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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



Bl? tbe Same Hutbon 



3^ourne^ings in tbe ©ID MorlD; or, Europe, 

Palestine, and Egypt. 

Embracing Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Italy, 
Greece, Turkey, Syria, the Holy Land, and Egypt, together 
with many cities and other places renowned in sacred and 
profane history, with the results of the latest explorations 
in Bible Lands. Richly illustrated with maps and more 
than one hundred engravings, with an introduction by Rev. 
Benjamin St.James Fry, D.D., late editor of the Central 
Christian Advocate, St. Louis. Sold by Subscription. Prices : 
cloth, plain edges, $3.00; cloth, gold edges, $3.7.5 ; morocco, 
gold edges, $4.50. 

" I have not been trying to read the book, but really I 
cannot keep from reading it. It helps me to see things 
which I could not understand before. I have read many 
books on the Holy Land, the best I could secure. My 
studies as a teacher have necessarily enlisted me greatly in 
such books, and yet this one is clearer than any book I have 
read on the Holy Land. What is remarkable in my home 
is the fact that my family did not allow it to be taken to 
my study, there to remain. But they all read it with like 
interest." — Dr. L. Davis, Union Biblical Seminary. 

" It is charming. It is, in my judgment, one of the most 
admirable works of its kind I ever examined." — J. H. 
Barclay, D.D. 

"I have read with pleasure and profit Dr. J. W. Hott's 
' Journeyings in the Old World.' In these days, when so 
much insidious poison is distilled in books, it is refresh- 
ing to read one like this, pervaded by a pure Christian 
atmosphere, and to feel wiser and better for its perusal."— 
Robert W. Steele. 

" I can testify from personal observation and experience 
to the accuracy of his description of European and Oriental 
scenes. It is evident that he has been an acute and careful 
traveler, and has added to his own information the fruits 
of diligent and earnest research. There is through all a 
serious and devout spirit which will commend the book to 
Christian readers and make it profitable in the family, 
while it is also spirited and vivacious. I heartily commend 
it to generous notice and patronage."— -Henr?/ F. Colby, D.D. 



l«««<^>li<^SACRED HOURS WITH 
YOUNG CHRISTIANS |<^>^<^^^1^^>IM^ 



i 



3®>Sc«K3yS>2jAl_OKSY33> 



imSACRED HOURS WITH 
YOUNG CHRISTIANS 



BY 



BISHOP JAMES W. HOTT, D.D., 

3nf§ar of 
" Journ<!t>mA£? in t^t ®f^ ©orfB." 



INTRODUCTION BY THEODORE L. CUYLER, D. D. 



± 



DAYTON, OHIO 



{ssiy^ 



W. J. SHUEY, PUBLISHER 
1892 



The Li 

OF Cong k ESS 

WASHINGTON 



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Copyright, 1892, 

Bt W. J. Shuey, Publishee. 

All rights reserved. 



PREFACE. 



This unpretending little volume comes into sacred hours 
with the young disciple of Christ, where, with the world 
shut out, it would lay at least a few grains of gold dust on 
the path of the unaccustomed traveler to enrich him on 
his heavenly journey. 

It is not intended that these pages should cover the field 
of Christian evidences, or even embrace the entire range 
of practical duty. The aim is to give kindly hints and 
practical suggestions upon duties which lie at the intro- 
duction of a Christian life. A familiar manner is chosen, 
adapted to the treatment of subjects which do not usually 
come within the range of pulpit teaching or preaching, 
and which are not treated in books now in circulation. 

How to be a happy Christian is a question asked by many 
who have just begun the Master's service. These pages 
seek to help the reader to solve this problem successfully 
in daily experience and life. It is the heart of the writer, 
who has sought to walk humbly with Christ over thirty 
years, placed beside the heart of the reader, trying to lend 
a ray of light as the traveler takes his steps upward in the 
way of love and fellowship with God. 

The productions and thoughts of others have been inter- 
woven, so as to enrich greatly the brief chapters. 

If maturer Christians shall find in these pages hints 
which shall help them heavenward, or thoughts which 
shall remind them of former victories, making their way 
onward more sacred, it shall be only to the honor of the 
blessed Master, who is the friend and helper of every 
trusting soul. 

The Author. 



i 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

The Christian's Course — Full-Orbed Man — Not Se- 
clusion — Responsibility of Christian Life — The 
Christian's State — Song of Darkness — Assurance 
of Salvation — Duty Neglected — Sincerity — Per- 
sonal Experience — Put to the Test — Testimony 
of the Word — Testimony of the Spirit — Testi- 
mony of Love — Signs to the Soul 17 

CHAPTER II. 

Not Just to Keep — Holy of Holies — Jesus in the 
Holy Place — What Then is Prayer? 27 

CHAPTER III. 

How Shall I Pray? — The Best of All Praying — The 
Closet 37 

CHAPTER IV. 

Family Piety — Family Worship — How to Have Fam- 
ily Worship 51 

CHAPTER V. 

The Word of God— Have Your Own Bible — How 
and When to Read It 60 



X (Eontents. 

CHAPTER VI. 

PAGE 

Public Means of Grace — Christian Baptism — Lord's 

Supper — Preaching of the Word 68 

CHAPTER VII. 

Meetings for Prayer — Prayer-Meeting Blessings — 
What All Know — Concerning the Prayer Meeting 

— Praise and Testimony Meetings — The Class 
Meeting Testimony Service — Blessings of Testi- 
mony Meetings 78 

CHAPTER VIII. 

A Heart of Love — Love to Christ — Power of This 
Love — Practice of Love — Promptings of Love 88 

CHAPTER IX. 

Love to Our Enemies — Love to Enemies Enjoined 

— Love to Enemies Illustrated — Joy of Love to 
Enemies ^ Power of Love for Enemies 95 

CHAPTER X. 

Fidelity to Conscience — Cultivation of Nearness to 
God — The Christ Ideal — Self-Control — Control- 
ling the Tongue — Christian Do-Nots — Learning 
from the Faults of Others — Constant Christian 
Courage 104 

CHAPTER XI. 

Evil Speaking — Jealousies — Trials by Temptation ^ — 
Uses of Temptation — Dangers in Temptation — 
Behavior Under Temptation 115 



(Eontcnts, xi 

CHAPTER XII. 

PAGE 

Seasons of Affliction — Benetits of Affliction — Behav- 
ior Under Affliction — Constant Spiritual Growth... 123 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Discipline of the Church — Church Work — Count 
Nothing a Sacrifice — Self-Denial — Support of the 
Pastor 133 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The Cause of Missions — The Great Responsibility — 
Intellectual Growth M2 

CHAPTER XV. 

Religious Reading — Doubtful Practices — Novel-Read- 
ing — Evil Associations — The Theater — Rules of 
Life 149 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Thoughts of Death — Our Encouragement — Christ at 
Bethany 161 



INTRODUCTION, 



To ENLIST in the army of the great Captain of our salva- 
tion is one thing, and it may require only a few decisive 
moments; but to endure the marches and the bivouacs, 
to fight the battles, and win the victories, of a life cam- 
paign, is quite another thing. Paul and Peter delivered 
many powerful discourses to the unconverted; only a few 
sentences of them have been preserved in the New Testa- 
ment, but whole epistles of theirs to the followers of Christ 
have come down to us. This little volume has been pre- 
pared for young Christians who have enrolled their names 
and put on the armor. It would be a great mistake to 
apply to them the current phrase about " harvested souls 
gathered into the garner." The church is not a granary; 
it is a company of Christ's seed sowers. When a person 
quits the service of Satan and enters a Christian church, 
he quits sowing to the flesh and sin, and begins to sow to 
the Spirit, that he may reap the life everlasting. 

Young friends, you are only inexperienced beginners. 
Much depends on a right start. Christ is not only your 
Redeemer; he offers to be your Teacher, and this world is 
only a training-school for a better world. We are told that 
God " taught Ephraim to go. taking them by their arms." 
So a good mother puts her strong arms under the arms of 
her infant child, and steadies the wee fellow while he is 
learning to use his feet. You must practice the first steps, 
even though through weakness and inexperience you may 
make some slips or catch some tumbles. For example, it is 
important for a young convert to learn to open his lips 
before others in public prayer, or in giving a testimony for 
Christ. Unless vou do this, vou will be born tongue-tied, 



xiv 3lii'^<^^ll*^^^^^- 

and will be likely to remain a "silent partner" in the 
church all your days. No matter if you do stammer a 
little and feel some shaking of the knees at your first 
attempt: break the ice and plunge in. You will soon get 
accustomed to the sound of your own voice and gain self- 
possession. Some of the most effective preachers were the 
most bashful and awkward beginners. Do not talk for 
talk's sake in a devotional meeting. Have something to 
say, and then say it modestly, fearlessly, and for the love 
of your Master. Perhaps your simple, fervent words, 
spoken in the ardor of your "first love," may be blessed 
to the awakening and conversion of some one who listens 
to you. "Go thou and preach," "Let thy light shine," are 
the Master's commissions to every one of his followers. 
You will find a pulpit for Christ wherever you are — at 
school, in the shop, in the store, in the social circle, or 
wherever you are. You are to preach Jesus not only with 
your lips, but in your daily lives. There is no sermon so 
eloquent and persuasive as a true, noble, manly or womanly 
Christian life. 

Every soul that is born again of the Holy Spirit is born 
for some purpose. Find out what you are a Christian for. 
Try to learn Christ's will in regard to you, and then obey 
it. That illustrious new convert on the road to Damascus 
made this his first question: "Lord, what wilt thou have 
me to do ? " His long and wonderful career was just the 
continual answer to that earliest question. He kept on 
learning Christ's will and doing that will through storms 
and persecutions until his triumphant spirit swept through 
the gates of everlasting glory. Christ is as ready to teach 
you as he was to teach Paul. Don't try to tread in some- 
body else's steps, or be anybody else but yourself. Work 
your own passage, and make your own experience as you 
go along. Go right to Jesus Christ every day in honest, 
believing prayer, and ask him to guide you. He is ever 
ready to lead you in the way of all truth. If you sincerely 
consult your Bible, and ask your Savior to direct you, and 



3ntro6uction. xv 

listen to the voice of the Spirit in your own conscience, you 
will never be likely to take a false step as long as you live. 
Make much of your conscience, and keep it healthy and 
undeflled. Feelings are transient and often deceptive. 
There are too many emotional professors, whose religion 
begins and ends in mere gush. They wax warm and seem 
pious in a prayer meeting, but you cannot trust them out- 
doors. They seem to burn out all their little flask of oil 
in the meeting, and have none to make their " lights shine 
before men." Obey conscience. Keep it regulated by the 
word of God, as you set your watch by the sun. Remember 
that other people are watching you with sharp eyes — your 
Master intended that you should be watched. Watch over 
yourself, and prove your love to your crucified Savior by 
keeping his comniandments. The best advertisement of a 
workshop is first-class work; the best service you can 
render to Christianity will be to turn out an honest, godly, 
well made character. This is a sinful, tempting, dafigerous 
world you are in, but the world will do you no harm as long 
as you sincerely try to do the world good. 

As to the much discussed subject of amusements and 
recreation, allow me to say that every amusement or recre- 
ation is innocent which makes your body healthier, your 
mind clearer, and your soul stronger. Let, all others alone. 
I have managed to live a very cheerful and happy life with- 
out ever having entered a theater or a ball room, or drunk 
a bottle of wine, or played a game of cards. Wherever you 
cannot take Christ and a clear conscience with you, do not 
stir a step. Whatever trade or business you cannot ask 
God's blessing on, do not undertake. 

While putting on the armor for life's conflicts, remember 
that the sword of the Spirit is the word of God. Not only 
read your Bible every day — search it, study it. Put your 
spade down deep into that great, inexhaustible ore bed of 
heaven-sent truth. Get many of the most practical pas- 
sages by heart. All the healthiest, happiest, strongest 
Christians are Bible-fed Christians. In your daily battle 



xvi 3^^^<^^ii^ii<^^- 

with besetting sins, you will need to have the sword of 
the Spirit handy. 

The sooner you get into some line of Christian work the 
better. If a drone ever gets to heaven, he will not feel at 
home there among the bees who have brought home the 
honey. Do what you can do best. Do not look after easy 
places; it is a noble maxim to "go where no one else is 
willing to go." While you are working for Jesus, do not 
neglect the inner life of your own soul. Unless the heart 
fountain is kept warm and full with the love of Jesus, the 
stream of your activities will soon dry up. It is a wise 
step for young converts to unite with some Society of 
Christian Endeavor, or some active association of the 
youthful members of their own church. An association of 
that kind in the church I long served, numbers many hun- 
dred members, and for over twenty years it has been a 
splendid training-school in personal piety and useful work. 

With these frank, loving words of counsel, I commend 
this little volume to all the young Christians into whose 
hands it may fall. It is full of precious, practical truth to 
aid them in the service of the best of Masters, and to fit 
them for the " crown of glory that f adeth not away." 

Theodore L. Cuyler. 

Brooklyn, New York. 



Sacred hours with Young 
Christians. 



CHAPTER I. 



The Christian's Course — Full-Orbed Man — Not Seclusion — 
Responsibility of Christian Life — The Christian's State 

— Song of Darkness — Assurance of Salvation — Duty- 
Neglected — Sincerity — Personal Experience — Put to the 
Test — Testimony of the Word — Testimony of the Spirit 

— Testimony of Love — Signs to the Soul. 

"Such is the Christian: his course he begins 
Like the sun in a mist, when he mourns for his sins, 
And melts into tears; then he breaks out and shines, 

And travels his heavenly way; 
But when he comes near to finish his race. 
Like a fine setting sun, he looks richer in grace 
And gives a sure hope, at the end of his days. 

Of rising in brighter array." — Watts. 

Thus beautifully, after the manner of the wise 
man, who tells us that "the path of the just is 
as the shining light, that shineth more and 
more unto the perfect day," does the poet pre- 
sent to us the noblest type of man. 

The sincere and faithful Christian is the high- 
est ideal of manhood and womanhood. The 
Christian is not only an exalted character, because 

2 17 



18 Sacxeb ^ours tDttl? l^oung, Ct^rtsttans. 

patterned after the divine ideal, but in all human 
elements of computation, is a well rounded per- 
son, combining all the elements of heart and 
mind and body cultured to the highest plane of 
life. Christianity touches every part of our 
being and every relation we sustain in life, and 
puts its divine impress there. It, angel-like, 
stimulates, guides, and ennobles our loftiest 
stretch of thought, and blesses our widest range 
of reason and knowledge. It threads every 
affection of the heart, and purifies, tenders, and 
sweetens every loving throb of our affectional 
and moral natures. It is the morning dew of 
heaven upon every flower and bud and fruit 
and field of our earth life, giving beauty, thought, 
and triumph to every noble endeavor. 

Christianity does not direct us to a seclusion 
from the world, or to a withdrawal from the 
common walks and pursuits of men. On the 
contrary, it sends us out into these ways of 
duty filled with the power and thought of a new 
and noble life. 

To the young Christian, therefore, there comes 
at once a consciousness of the responsibility of 
an obligation thus assumed to live before men, 
in some humble sense, as a representative of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. 



2t Song, of Darfness, 19 

I. THE christian's STATE. 

The Christian's state is a grace and a life. It 
is a grace on its divine side, and a life on the 
human side. 

It is often the case that the young Christian 
does not go far in his pilgrimage until a darkness 
falls upon the heart. Doubts arise as to his or 
her acceptance with God. These are severe, 
because they are unexpected. You may have 
already experienced these fearful seasons of doubt, 
which have brought you much distress. 

In the turni)ig away of the heart from sin we 
naturally enough expect to get free from it. The 
opening light of the new love and joy of the 
converted soul is such that it is fondly believed 
that this rapture and joy shall be constant. 
Often the way is soon beset with enemies, and 
the heavens overspread with darkness. He may 
have the wilderness to cross. The pleasures and 
intoxications of sin are gone, but the joys of 
religion do not fill the soul. The feet have 
gone onl}^ a little way before there comes — 

II. A SONG OF DARKNESS 

"Lost in darkness, girt with dangers, round me strangers, 
Through an alien land I roam; 
Outward trials, bitter losses, inward crosses, 
Lord, thou know'st have sought me home; 



20 Sacreb ^ours tpttl? IJoung (Zl^vxsiians. 

Sin of courage hath bereft me, and hath left me 

Scarce a spark of faith and hope; 
Bitter tears my heart oft sheddeth, as it dreadeth 

I am past thy mercy's scope. 
Peace I cannot find; oh, take me. Lord, and make me 

From this yoke of darkness free! 
Oalm this longing, never sleeping; still my weeping; 

Give me hope once more in thee ! " 

We may all well enough expect seasons of 
darkness; but they should not cause us to fall 
hito doubting. 

Doubts may arise on account of a wrong idea 
of religion previously formed in the mind, or 
from a neglect of Christian duty. In the one 
case, we have expected from religion what is not 
realized, and this disappointment leaves the mind 
in doubt. In the other case, and that which is 
more frequent, this doubting rises from a con- 
sciousness of having neglected some Christian 
duty. There may also come the doubts from 
the midst of thick darkness of soul. A doubt 
is nothing except the shadow of the truth. 

"Who never doubted, never half believed: 
Where doubt is, there is truth." 

In all times of darkness and seasons of trial 
and temptation, it is your privilege as Christians 
to walk in the — 



Duty He^Iecteb. 21 

III. ASSURA^X'E OF SALVATIOX, 

This does not rest on the thoroughness of 
your repentance, nor the strength of the faith 
you first exercised in Jesus, nor upon the feeHng 
of ecstasy and joy wliich you experienced, but 
alone upon Christ, his word, and the Holy Spirit. 
These all agree. We have heard of persons who 
depended upon " dreams " and " a voice " and 
other m^^sterious and marvelous occurrences or 
experiences for evidences of religious states, but 
these are suspicious, and not to be countenanced 
or expected. A careful study of the word of 
God, with simple faith in Christ and due regard 
for the "fruits of the Spirit" in the life, never 
leaves a Christian long in doubt as to his state. 
If the experience and life correspond with the 
word of Jesus, as the true coin to the die in the 
mint, there will be assurance. 

IV. DUTY XEGLECTED. 

If your life has been false to Christ, and 
you have neglected duty, and thus fallen into 
doubt, the fault is with yourself; and the first 
thing to do is to fall at the feet of Jesus, ask 
pardon for the neglect, and at once take up 
the cross. 



V. SINCERITY. 

If you can say, " I have sincerely tried to 
please Christ the best I know how to do," your 
assurance is found in Christ. You need not seek 
for it in the gentleness of disposition which you 
think you as a Christian ought to exhibit, nor 
in the happiness you have formerly experienced, 
nor in any condition of heart or mind which may 
be possible to you, but alone in Christ. 

VI. PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. 

The writer remembers well the mistakes made 
just here in his own early Christian life. In the 
moment of his conversion, he was so lost in a 
sense of his sinfulness, and so drawn out in love 
to Christ, whom by faith he saw on the cross, 
that for some time he was utterly unconscious of 
all earthly things. Almost the only wakeful 
moment of his life in which he has been uncon- 
scious of earthly surroundings, was the supreme 
moment when in utter self-abandonment he 
gave up his soul to Christ, and received in return 
the assurance of loving acceptance with the God 
of the universe, through the crucified Jesus beheld 
by faith on the cross. The joy and glory of 
heaven filled the soul. For hours deepest dark- 



put to the Ccst. 23 

ness had surrounded the heart. It became so 
dark that all sight was lost to earthly surround- 
ings. The last things remembered were the 
prayers of loved ones to Jesus to take into his 
forgiving love a struggling soul. Then followed 
a season alone with Christ, who filled the soul 
with a great light. The next consciousness of 
things about was the presence of a loved mother 
and father and others in rejoicing, singing 
'•'Happy day when Jesus washed my sins away," 
and a heart overflowing with joy, which found 
expression in tears and shouts. 

It would be false to say that the influence and 
power of that moment were ever afterward lost 
from the heart; but there soon came seasons 
when its ecstasy was not present. ^lany hours 
AATre often spent struggling in prayer alone on 
the ground, pleading with God for that wonder- 
ful illumination. These were seasons of self- 
surrender to the young heart, and God answered 
prayer ; but they were often needlessly prolonged. 
There should have been immediate and perfect 
reliance upon Christ. 

VII. PUT TO THE TEST. 

It is related that, at the time of the great 
Marian persecution, there was a woman brought 



24 Sacreb ^ours w\il} IJoung (£{}rtsttans. 

before Bonner upon trial for her religion. The 

cruel judge told her he would take her husband 

from her. She replied, " Christ is my husband." 

He answered, "I will take away your child"; but 

she responded, "Christ is better to me than ten 

sons." The heartless wretch said, "I will strip 

you of all your earthly comforts"; but to this 

she replied, "Yea, but Christ is mine, and you 

cannot strip me of him." And this thought bore 

her through it all. Fix it firmly that Christ is 

yours. 

"Tempt not my soul away, 
Jesus is mine; 
Here would I ever stay, 
Jesus is mine." 

VIII. TESTIMONY OF THE W^ORD. 

It is written, " He that believeth on the Son hath 
everlasting life" (John 3:36); and again, "He 
that heareth my word, and believeth on him that 
sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come 
into condemnation; but is passed from death unto 
Hfe " ( John 5:24). "He that believeth on the Son 
of God hath the witness in himself " (I. John 5:10). 
"He that hath the Son hath life" (I. John 5:12). 

IX. TESTIMONY OF THE SPIRIT. 

With the assurance of the word, we have also 
that of the Holy Spirit. " The Spirit itself beareth 



Signs to tl^e Soul. 25 

witness with our spirit, that we are the children 
of God" (Romans 8:16). 

X. TESTIMONY OF LOVE. 

You have also the assurance of love. " We 
know that we have passed from death unto life, 
because we love the brethren" (I. John 3:14). If 
we are Christ's we love him also. This is a 
practical and simple test. Every husband knows 
whether he loves his wife or not. Every wife 
knows whether or not she loves her husband. 
You know jDcrfectly and assuredly whether you 
love your father and your mother, or not. To 
raise a doubt on the attitude of your heart toward 
them would be impossible. To suggest doubts 
respecting it would be foolishness. Even so, you 
know whether or not you are in love with Christ. 
You know whether or not you have surrendered 
your will and life to God. If not, do so at once 
and forever. 

You may have temptations and trials and 
fears and enemies; but you have a sure founda- 
tion. 

XI. SIGNS TO THE SOUL. 

A distinguished evangelist who has given many 
years to leading souls to Christ has suggested the 
following signs of the conversion of the soul: 



26 Sacreb ^ours tr>tt(? IJoung Christians. 

1. A full surrender to the will of God. 

2. The removal of a burden of sin gradually 
or suddenly. 

3. A new love to Christians and to Jesus. 

4. A new relish for the word of God. 

5. Pleasure in secret prayer, at least at times. 

6. Sin or sinful thoughts will cause pain. 

7. Desire and efforts for the salvation of 
others. 

8. A desire to obey Christ in his command- 
ments and ordinances. 

9. Deep humility and self-abasement. 

10. A growing desire to be holy and like 
Christ. 

John Bunyan wrote : 

"This pretty bird, oh, how she flies and sings! 
But could she do so if she had not wings? 
Her wings bespeak my faith, her songs my peace; 
When I believe and sing, my doubtings cease." 



CHAPTER 11. 

Not Just to Keep — Holy of Holies — Jesus in the Holy- 
Place— What Then is Prayer? 

As ALL do not love with the same intensity and 
tenderness, nor fear with the same tremulous- 
ness, so all hearts do not serve Christ with the 
same devotion. The Christian life is not a me- 
chanical inclined plane, up which all pass in 
the same ratio of approach toward God and 
heaven. Some sing on the pathway Zionward; 
others sorrow. Some grow richer in experience 
and love; others languish. Some grow large 
and noble of soul ; others decline and seem to 
wear their religion out. 

XII. NOT JUST TO KEEP. 

Religion is not a mere state of mind and heart 
which we are to keep. It is not a precious 
treasure w^hich is to be secured and laid up in 
a napkin. It is not a mere profession which we 
are to sustain before the world. It is not a 
victory which, once won, gives rest from all con- 
flict. Christianity, or true religion, is a human 
life with Christ and a Christly life with men. 

27 



28 Sacreb ^ours mttl? IJoung Ct^ristians. 

" Near, so very to God, 
Nearer I cannot be ; 
For in the presence of his Son 
I am as near as he." 

XIII. THE HOLY OF HOLIES. 

Martin Luther, that mighty reformer, when in 
the severest conflicts of his hfe, said, "I cannot 
get on now without three hours of prayer a day." 
In the South Kensington Museum, London, there 
is a striking picture of Dr. Johnson waiting in 
the antechamber of nobihty for his turn to be 
admitted to an audience. The galleries of the 
true Christian museum of holy things show us no 
such portraiture. Here we have the soul at once 
in audience with the King of kings. 

A servant maid once said to a divine, " The more 
I have to do, the more I pray." There must be 
communion with God. 

XIV. JESUS IN THE HOLY PLACE. 

We ask ourselves the questions. How could 
Jesus, in the form of a man, live such a life of 
love and labor and poverty and suffering and 
hunger as we have shown us in the gospels? 
How could one clad in flesh which had the 
weakness of humanity, show the world such a 
spirit and life as Jesus presents to us? Whence 



3e$us in t()e I^oly place. 29 

comes that ocean of love and tenderness flowing 
out of his own troubled and neglected heart? 
Where found he those tears that could weep over 
his enemies, and that prayer which from the cross 
pleaded for forgiveness for his murderers? Do 
your eyes turn now to that wondrous life, asking 
the sources of that life? Come with me to Geth- 
semane. John tells us, "Jesus ofttimes resorted 
thither with his disciples." When Jesus w^ent 
to that garden of olives beside Kidron on that 
sorrowful night, it was not for the first time. Of 
the manner in which Jesus spent the night before 
he chose his twelve apostles, we have this record 
given us by Luke: "And it came to pass in those 
days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, 
and continued all night in prayer to God." After 
the feeding of the five thousand on the plain 
beside the Sea of Galilee with five loaves and 
two fishes, when Jesus perceived that the people 
wanted to make him a king, Matthew tells us,, 
"When he had sent the multitudes away, he 
went up into a mountain apart to pray: and 
when the evening was come, he was there alone." 
Before Jesiis began his first missionary journey 
through Galilee, Mark tells us, " In the morning, 
rising up a great while before day, he went out, 
and departed into a solitary place, and there 



30 Sacreb ^ours tPttl; IJourtg (£I?nsttans. 

prayed." In opening to us the wonderful trans- 
figuration scene, Luke tells us that Jesus "took 
Peter and John and James, and went up into a 
mountain to pray.'' How beautiful the story: 
"And as he prayed, the fashion of his counte- 
nance was altered," and he was "transfigured 
before them." 

Let us connect these views of the inner life of 
Jesus with a scene of that last sorrow^ful night, 
when he, after his prayer with his disciples fol- 
lowing the institution of the Lord's supper, passed 
down under the somber shadows of the temple, 
out of the St. Stephen's gate, over the slopes of 
Mount Moriah, across the valley of the Kidron, 
to the slopes of Olivet, into the garden of Geth- 
semane. See Jesus there alone under the deep olive 
shades, bowed low on the cold earth, pouring out 
his soul in the agonies of j^rayer, while the load 
of the w^orld's sins came consciously upon him. 
What a prayer was that when within his inner 
being the struggle went on, until the blood started 
from the veins and coursed its way like sweat to 
his brow and to every part of his pleading frame ! 
My brother and sister, after turning only one cold 
thought to the inner life of prayer led by Jesus, 
can we longer be in doubt as to the secret power 
of his life? Can we not see that our praying has 



3e5us in tl^e i^oly place. 31 

come as far short of his as our Uves have been 
below and unHke him? Jesus Uved in the unseen 
holy. Have you ever been in Gethsemane? Jesus 
went there for you. 

If Jesus led such a life of prayer, need it be 
further pressed to our attention? Shall you who 
are but beginning to walk with him not learn the 
art of prayer? Our Father says, "Call upon me 
in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and 
thou shalt glorify me." 

All prayer is not the same. Dr. Cuyler in 
his admirable little book, "Heart Life," says: 
" There is the calm communion of the soul with 
God. There is the affectionate converse of the 
believer with him, in which faith feeds on the 
promises, and recounts its mercies, and finds its 
meditations to be sweet. Then, too, there is the 
sharp, piercing cry of anguish, or the earnest 
appeal of importunity, which will not let God 
go without an immediate response." 

" From every stormy wind that blows, 
From every swelling tide of woes, 
There is a calm, a sure retreat: 
'T is found before the mercy seat." 

A beautiful story is related of a darling little 
daughter of a clergyman who was left to play 
about the rooms of the home until she grew 



32 Sacreb ^ours tr>ttt? IJoung <Li}nst\ans, 

lonesome. By and by her little feet pattered up 
the steps to the study of her father, where she 
knew he was employed. Her little hands rapped 
at the study door asking admission. As the 
father opened the door he saw the bright eyes of 
his darling child and the smile on her little 
dimpled cheeks. Stooping down, the learned and 
thoughtful and strong man kissed the sweet lips 
of the little child as he asked, "And what do you 
want, darling, that you come here now?" Her 
tender little face and loving eyes were raised to 
her father's as she answered, "Nothing, papa; only 
to be with you." "Only to be with you," the 
language of a little child, lonely grow- n, to a loved 
father. And who does not sometimes feel a lone- 
liness of spirit and a hunger of heart only to 
be with Jesus? 

XV. WHAT THEN IS PRAYER? 

Bishop Monrad says, "Prayer is a world by 
itself, known only to those who live in it." Those 
who pray, and those who do not pray, do indeed 
live in different worlds. Awhile ago the writer 
was urging upon a man the importance of coming 
at once to Christ. His heart was touched. He 
had a family, and had been reared in a pious 
family, and had often heard his father and mother 



IPt^at CI)en is prayer? 33 

pray. As he was urged to commence an approach 
to God in prayer, liis eyes filled with tears, and 
he said, "I haye neyer prayed in all my life." 
He soon prayed and w^as happily sayed. But 
what a world is that in which a soul has no com- 
munion with God! 

Prayer is coming to God. " Come unto me all 
ye that labor and are heayy laden." It is a talk- 
ing with God. "I have taken upon me to speak 
unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes." 
How beautifully Montgomery giyes us the view 
of prayer. 

"Prayer is the simplest form of speech 
That infant lips can try; 
Prayer the sublimest strains that reach 
The Majesty on high. 

"Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice, 

Returning from his ways, 
While angels in their songs rejoice, 
And cry, ' Behold, he prays.' 

" Prayer is the Christian's vital breath, 
The Christian's native air. 
His watchword at the gate of death, — 
He enters heaven with prayer." 

Your approaches to God should not be fash- 
ioned into any special form. While God is a 
being of majesty and of order, he is your Father, 
and you can afford to approach him with the 
simplicity of the little child. The apostle tells us 



34 Sacreb ^ours vo'xtl) IJoung (Ef^nsttans. 

that "we have a great High Priest, that is passed 
into the heavens"; and inasmuch as we have a 
High Priest who is touched with the feehng of 
our infirmities, "let us therefore come boldly 
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain 
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." 
True prayer embraces — 

1. Worship, adoration, and thanksgiving. 
The prayer taught us by Jesus begins, "Our 
Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy 
name." Let God's name be praised. How great 
are his mercies to us. 

2. Repentance and confession. The one prayer 
that Jesus commended was, "God be merciful to 
me a sinner." "Against thee, thee only, have 
I sinned." Our sins and griefs and sorrows are a 
pleading prayer. The child dare not conceal its 
needs from a mother. A patient will not with- 
hold his distress from a physician, however terrible 
it may be. The writer, while traveling in the far 
East a few years ago, where begging attains its 
highest perfection, found that there the poor beg- 
gars always held out their deformed hands and 
arms, and showed their great need. So the Chris- 
tian confesses to God his deep and utter want. 

3. Supplication and petition. Here we come 
empty-handed. 



XD^at Ct?en is prayer? 35 

" In my band no price I bring, 
Simply to tby cross I cling." 

Often we are very beggars before the Lord. 
True prayer in this sense is often not contented 
with mere asking, although the promise is from 
Jesus, "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I 
will do it," and "All things whatsoever ye shall 
ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." The 
earnest soul, drawn out in hunger for the blessings 
of the Lord, exclaims, "Oh that I knew w^here I 
might find him! that I might come even to his 
seat! I would order my cause before him, and 
fill my mouth with arguments." If you never 
had a temptation or trial or burden or sorrow 
of heart or hungering want which caused you 
to "cry out unto the Lord in the night," you 
have not yet entered into the full experiences 
of life. 

4. Self-surrender and complete submission to 
God. In this way we have many examples, but 
none more wonderful than that of Jesus in the 
prayer in the garden of Gethsemane: "Neverthe- 
less not my will, but thine, be done." It is not 
the submission of indifference, but a loving, 
earnest heart-pleading put on the heart of a lov- 
ing Father in sweet submission to his will. 



36 Sacreb ^ours voxil} l^onrxq Cl^nstians, 

"Let me to thy goodness leave 
When and what thou art to give. 
All thy works to thee are known; 
Let thy blessed will be done." 

It is said that Constantine was once looking- 
at some statues of noted persons, who were repre- 
sented standing. Looking on them for a time, he 
said, "I shall have mine taken kneeling, for that 
is how I have risen to eminence." That, dear 
reader, is your position. Nor is it a painful one. 
What joy we found in the days of our childhood 
at mother's knees ! How much some would give 
if they could kneel once again beside that dear 
mother and look into her eyes, which revealed to 
us a sea of love. Such are moments we spend at 
Jesus' feet. 

" My God, is any hour so sweet, 

From blush of morn to evening star, 
As that which calls me to thy feet — 
Th^ hour of prayer? 

" Words cannot tell what blest relief 
Here from my every want I find — 
What strength for warfare, balm for grief, 
What peace of mind." 



CHAPTER III. 

How Shall I Pray?- The Best of All Praying — The Closet. 

When the disciples were journeying with Jesus 
from place to place, and listening to his gracious 
words, and witnessing his wonderful miracles, 
they came to him requesting, "Lord, teach us to 
pray." We know that we must so pray as to 
honor God, and come before him in a manner 
which may promote a right attitude and charac- 
ter and spirit in ourselves. And so how appro- 
priate are the words, 

"0 thoii by whom we come to God, — 
The Life, the Truth, the Way,— 
The path of prayer thyself hath trod! 
Lord, teach us how to pray!" 

Did you never stand at the door of a splendid 
mansion, to whose inmates 3'ou had an errand, 
with your hand on the doorbell, trembling with 
fear? Were you never introduced to the 
presence of some one for whom you had the 
profoundest reverence, from whom you could not 
conceal your embarrassment? And have you 
never knelt before the throne of grace and ex- 
claimed, "How can I come before Him?" 



38 Sacreb ^ours voit^ IQonxK^ (Ll^rtsltans. 

XVI. HOW SHALL I PRAY? 

If prayer is indeed the crying of the soul, it is 
not in words or forms that it shall be acceptable 
before God. It is the spirit of the voice that God 
regards. He will not chide our blunders. We 
should not allow mistakes to hinder our coming. 
It is related that on one occasion, when Mr. Spur- 
geon was visiting a dying woman, he was asked 
specially to pray for the conversion of an only 
child — a daughter. Mr. Spurgeon, by some 
means, misunderstood the name of the daughter, 
and prayed as for an only son. When he was 
about to leave, he was told of his mistake. He 
was not embarrassed, but replied : " Oh, that makes 
no difference. Our mistakes will not keep the 
Lord from giving us the blessing." A short time 
afterward the daughter was happily converted. 

AVith this fact in mind it may be well for us to 
think for a moment of conditions which indicate 
to us the right spirit of prayer. It may help us 
to name some of them for reflection. 

1. Pray reverently. When the writer trav- 
eled in the far East, upon entering the sacred 
mosques of the Mohammedans, their places of 
prayer, he always found it demanded that he 
remove the shoes from his feet. He walked for 



V}ow S^all 3 pray? 39 

hours without shoes through the Mosque of 
Omar, occupying the site of the holy Temple at 
Jerusalem, and other places of interest on the 
Temple plateau. So it was that the Lord said to 
Moses, ''Put off thy shoes from oflP thy feet, for the 
place whereon thou standest is holy ground." 
How much more does it become us to come 
before the Lord in prayer with deepest reverence. 

2. Pray gratefully, with a thankful heart. 
How unworthy for us to come to God for more 
mercies, when Ave have not a thankful heart for 
past blessings! "With thanksgiving let your 
requests be made known unto God." How sweet 
to recount the mercies of God ! 

"Wheii all thy mercies, O my God, 
My rising soul surveys, 
Transported with the view, I'm lost 
In wonder, love, and praise." 

3. Pray humbly, with a lowly spirit. St. 
Augustine, on being asked what was the first 
article in religion, answered, " Humility." " And 
what is the second?" "Humility." "And what 
is the third?" asked the questioner, to which the 
answer was given, " Humility." How often Jesus 
taught, and how perfectly he illustrated, this 
grace in his own precious life. There is no grace 
more beautiful. 



40 5acx(^b ^ours toiil} IJoun^ (E^rtstians. 

4. Pray with a sense of want. Our necessities 
are of themselves a pleading before God. It is 
the hungry child that importunes the mother for 
bread. It is the hungry child that receives an 
early answer. 

5. Pray lovingly, as to a Father. It is not an 
enemy to whom you come for help, but your best 
and truest friend. There is a sweetness in the 
loving tear we shed at the mercy seat. How does 
the little child nestle on its mother's knee when it 
would ask her best blessing. It is the heart of 
tenderest affection opening its doors to Jesus as 
warmly as it knows how, and sweetly asking him 
to come in. The soul cries out, 

"O love divine, how sweet thou art! 
When shall I find my willing heart 
All taken up by thee?" 

6. Pray with entire dependence on God. 

Prayer is the aching head leaning on the bosom 

of the Father. It is the prodigal coming home to 

Father's love and Father's house. It is the soul, 

tired of all its own ways, coming back to God, 

saying, 

"Other refuge have I none, 
Hangs my helpless soul on thee." 

7. Pray believingly and in full confidence of 
faith. "Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering." 



^ow 5t?all 3 pray? 41 

Jesus says, " AMiat things soever ye desire, when 
ye pray, beheve that ye receive them, and ye 
shall have them." It is related that Avhen Napo- 
leon was conducting a review of his troops in 
Paris, he let the reins fall from his hands upon 
the horse's neck, at which the horse galloped off 
at a rapid speed. Before Napoleon could recover 
the reins, a private soldier ran out and stopped 
the horse, and handed the reins to the emperor. 
^'Thanks to you, captain," said Napoleon. In- 
stantly the soldier responded, " Of wdiat regiment, 
sire? " The emperor, delighted with the quickness 
of the soldier's faith, responded as he rode away, 
^'Of my guards." The soldier threw down his 
gun and reported himself to the staff of officers, 
one of whom said, "What does this fellow want 
here?" But the soldier replied confidently, "This 
fellow is captain of Napoleon's guards." "You 
are mad, poor fellow," said the general. But the 
new captain pointed to the emperor and answered, 
"He said it," and so he claimed and secured his 
post of royal honor. So Jesus says it, and we 
claim it when w^e pray. AVe want a heroism of 
faith. 

8. Pray perseveringly. "Continuing instant 
in prayer." Jesus gives us a touching example 
of perseverance and importunity in prayer in the 



42 Sacreb ^ours tDttt^ IJoun^ Cl?nsttans, 

case of the widow who came often to the unjust 
judge, saying, "Avenge me of mine adversary," 
and received her desire because of her " continual 
coming." But Jesus says: "Shall not God avenge 
his own elect, which cry day and night unto him? 
I tell you that he will avenge them speedily." 

9. Pray with simplicity. Great-sounding words 
and strained thoughts are unbecoming the sup- 
pliant at Jesus' feet. It is related of John Quincy 
Adams that all his life through, down to the very 
last, he never retired to rest at night without 
approaching God with the simple prayer he 
learned in his childhood. What a scene — that 
mighty intellect kneeling before God, repeating, 

"Now I lay me down to sleep; 
I pray thee, Lord, my soul to keep; 
If I should die before I wake, 
I pray thee, Lord, my soul to take!" 

One night the writer put his head down on the 
pillow of a little boy who seemed near to death 
with diphtheria and fever, and as he was trying 
to sleep, repeated the first two lines of this stanza ; 
the fevered lips repeated the two remaining lines, 
and added, "That is a good prayer; it has all in 
it that I need," and the little form fell asleep. 

10. Pray fervently and with earnestness of 
heart. "The effectual, fervent prayer of a right- 



^ovo S^all 3 pray? 43 

eous man availeth much." A listless, lifeless, 
heartless prayer should never lie on the lips of a 
servant of Jesus Christ. A study of the successful 
prayers of the Bible shows us great fervency of 
spirit. It is as Jacob wrestling with the angel in 
the darkness all the night, to find at break of day 
that it was the Lord. John Knox, the great 
Scotch reformer, prayed, " Lord, give me Scot- 
land, or I die." Prayer is the arrow we shoot 
into the heavens of pity and love. Draw^ the 
bow" hard. 

11. Pray with an emptying of yourself. We 
bring our hearts to God as the maiden carries 
the pitcher to the precious fountain, with the 
pitcher empty ,- 

" A broken and emptied vessel 
For the Master's use made meet." 

12. Pray in the Spirit. So the apostle ex- 
horts us, "praying in the Holy Ghost," to keep 
ourselves in the love of God. Mr. Spurgeon says : 
"Prayer may be the chariot; the desire may 
draw^ it fast; but the Spirit is the very wheel 
whereby it moveth." Bishop Markwood used to 
say with characteristic simplicity that the soul 
that prayed in the Spirit " always had a prayer 
handy." How precious the truth that "the 



44 Sacub ^ours wiil} IJoung (EE^ristians* 

Spirit also helpetli our infirmities: for we know 
not what we should pray for as we ought: but the 
Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groan- 
ings which cannot be uttered." 

13. Pray in unison with others. The Master 
tells us, "Where two or three are gathered together 
in my name, there am I in the midst." And we 
have the promise of Jesus, "If two of you shall 
agree on earth as touching anything that they 
shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father 
w^hich is in heaven." 

14. Pray obediently. God often tests our sin- 
cerity by asking us to work with him. A broken- 
hearted wife who had prayed for years in secret 
for the conversion of an unsaved husband, and 
apparently all in vain, asked him kindly if she 
might pray with him. Her solicitude touched 
his heart, and he said, "You may not only pray 
with me, but I will pray with you." Thus God 
often would have us cooperate with him in secur- 
ing the answer to our prayers. 

15. Pray with forgiveness in your heart. To 
that all-comprehensive prayer which Jesus taught 
his disciples, he appended one comment: "For 
if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly 
Father will also forgive you ; but if ye forgive not 
men their trespasses, neither will your Father 



Cl?e Best of ZlII praying. . 45 

forgive your trespasses." According to the very 
words of Jesus, we elect our own forgiveness. It 
is breath wasted that we spend in prayer while 
we hold enmity in the heart toward a fellow man. 
16. Pray in Jesus' name. "That whatsoever 
ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may 
give it you." Jesus is our intercessor. By him 
we come to the Father. " He is able also to save 
them to the uttermost that come unto God by 
him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession 
for them." Jesus tells us, "Whatsoever ye shall 
ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father 
may be glorified in the Son." For — 

"He ever lives above 
For me to intercede; 
His all-redeeming love, 
His precious blood, to plead. 

"Five bleeding wounds he bears, 
Eeceived on Calvary; 
They pour effectual prayers, 
They strongly speak for me." 

XVII. THE BEST OF ALL PRAYING. 

If you would pray indeed, you must pray in 
secret — alone with God. Jesus said to his disci- 
ples, "When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, 
and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy 
Father which is in secret ; and thy Father which 
seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." The 



secret of a successful Christian life is found in the 
closet. No Christian man or woman ever went 
far away from Christ who did not first neglect 
secret communion with God. Backsliding always 
commences just outside the door of the prayer 
closet. 

There is perhaps no privilege or duty more 
neglected than personal, solitary communion with 
God. There is no omission more noticeable to 
others, for those elements of sweetness, grace, and 
strength which are expected in us, are most 
fostered in this atmosphere; and our lives 
grow to maturity only in that soft, sweet sunlight 
which comes upon the soul when . it seeks oft 
solitary communion with the Source of all love- 
liness and power. 

XVIII. THE CLOSET. 

When Jesus spoke to his disciples of secret 
prayer, he commanded them to enter into the 
" closet." By the closet he no doubt referred to a 
small chamber, often constructed on the housetop 
as the place of private meditation and prayer. 
The word closet, as used by Jesus, means a 
place of privacy and retirement, and was doubt- 
less used in reference to this housetop chamber, or 
booth,, or tent, so often constructed on the flat roofs 



CI?e Closet 47 

of the houses. In allusion to this manner of 
worship we are told that " Peter went up upon the 
housetop to pray about the sixth hour." Any 
place of retirement is, in the sense used by Jesus, 
a closet, and there we may pour out the heart to 
God. 

1. Jesus asks us to come with him into the 
closet of secret j)rayer. When he was upon 
earth, he often went alone into the desert and 
into the mountain, and passed all the night long 
in prayer and communion with heaven. In this 
he showed our feet the path to strength and tri- 
umph and victory. And in his teachings to his 
disciples he so beautifully commends this fellow- 
ship, that we see how he longs to have us often 
alone with him in this blessed communion. 

2. In the closet the profane world is shut out. 
There we escape the cover of the world and the 
impressions which things about us naturally make 
on the mind. The soul escapes the power of all 
profane associations. Mrs. Phoebe Brown wore a 
path from her cottage in Massachusetts to a soli- 
tary place in the woods. There at eventide she 
was accustomed to pour out her soul to God. 
When she was accosted and chided for her absence 
from her home, she wrote as an apology that 
precious hymn the first stanza of which reads : 



48 5acre5 ^ours trjttf? l^oung, (El^risttans, 

"I love to steal awhile away 
From every cumb'ring care, 
And spend the hours of setting day 
In humble, grateful prayer." 

3. The presence and fear of our fellow men 
are shut away from us in the closet. The re- 
straints which the presence of our fellow men 
places upon us are removed. The fear of criticism 
or the love of approbation from another has no 
place in the thought or in the heart. 

4. There the soul is alone with God. How 
seldom is this the case with us in this life! 
How. few of the hours of our life are we away 
from the eye of some one who watches every act 
and hears every word! Who can fully know 
the secrets of his own soul or life without sea- 
sons of lone communion with self and with God? 
There the eye and the thought turn our very 
motives up to review, where none but God 
beholds. There the plans and wishes and 
ambitions of the heart open out solitary before 
God, in whom is all our dependence. 

5. The soul can thus have perfect freedom in 
the closet. There the heart casts off all its burden, 
and the soul unbends before its God. There all 
the chambers of the soul are opened to the eye of 
the Lord. Every heart has its secrets, and every 
soul its fierce struggles, which it cannot commun- 



Cl?e Closet. 49 

icate to any earthly ear. Bitter pains and pangs, 
which cannot be told to the dearest earthly friend, 
pierce the soul betimes. Temptations fierce and 
strong sweep like tempests through the entire 
being. These pains and secret sorrows can 
all be freely unbosomed only in the closet 
alone with Jesus. Some allow these bitter 
experiences of life to drag on an extended course 
in their lives, wdth the hope that they will wear 
out. It is the true heart that carries them to the 
feet of Jesus and lays them down fully there. The 
blessings and benefits of this secret prayer are 
beyond enumeration. Jesus said, "Thy Father 
which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." 
Dr. Payson, when a student, said, "Since I began 
to ask God's blessing on my studies, I have done 
more in one week than in the whole year before." 
It is said of General Havelock that if the hour 
for marching was six o'clock, he rose at four rather 
than be denied an opportunity of communion with 
God. Matthew Hale says, "If I omit praying 
and reading God's word in the morning, nothing 
goes well all day." The writer of these lines can 
testify that it has been secret communion with 
God which alone has furnished a sense of safety 
during the day and a heart of restfulness in Jesus 
which could do and suffer for his name. 



50 Sacreb ^ours vo'xtl} l^'^^^^ Cl^rtsttans. 

Well can the soul take up the stanzas of Mrs. 
Brown: 

" I love in solitude to shed 
The penitential tear, 
And all his promises to plead 
Where none but God can hear. 

" I love to think of mercies past, 
And future good implore, 
And all my cares and sorrows cast 
On Him whom I adore. 

" I love by faith to take a view 
Of brighter scenes in heaven ; 
The prospect doth my strength renew, 
While here by tempests driven. 

" Thus, when life's toilsome day is o'er, 
May its departing ray 
Be calm as this impressive hour, 
And lead to endless day." 



CHAPTER lY. 

Family Piety —■ Family Worship — How to have Family 
Worship. 

Many of our readers are heads of families and 
governors of households. It requires often much 
grace to show real piety at home; and yet it is 
in the home that true godliness must have its 
first and best manifestation. Some one asked 
Whitefield if a certain man was a Christian. 
To this the shrewd divine answered: "How should 
I know? I never lived with him." 

XIX. FAMILY PIETY. 

When Jesus healed the poor demoniac whom 
he met coming out of the tombs in the land of 
Gadara, the healed man, who had been the terror 
of all who dwelt in the land or passed by that 
way, because "always, night and day, he was in 
the mountains and in the tombs, crying, and cut- 
ting himself with stones," asked to go with Jesus 
on the boat over to the other side of the Sea 
of Galilee to Capernaum. But Jesus said, "Go 
home to thy friends, and tell them how great 

51 



things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had 
compassion on thee." Show piety at home. 

Who are so interested in our heart hfe and our 
piety as our own famihes? Who are so anxious 
about our success in rehgion as they? No power 
of evil can break down the hfe that is true to 
God and his service at home in your own house- 
hold. On the other hand, if true piety be want- 
ing at home, it will be hard to be a Christian 
away from home. It will be better for all men 
to think you a hypocrite than for your husband 
or wife, or father or mother, or sister or brother, 
or your children, to doubt the sincerity, honesty,, 
thoroughness, or genuineness of your piety. In 
walking with God, there will be much need of 
charity, patience, and love. A story is told of an 
aged couple who were quarreling daily. They 
were led to accept the Lord Jesus, and in their 
old age commence a new life. All at once their 
quarreling ceased. When they were asked about 
the matter, they said they had recently taken 
two Christian bears into their house. " The one," 
said the woman, "we found in the scripture, 
^Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the 
law of Christ' ; the other in the beautiful words, 
'Forbearing one another in love.'" So the names 
were Bear and Forbear. 



family IDorsl^tp. 53 

XX. FAMILY WORSHIP. 

The joy and safety of every home is the family 
altar. If you are a father or mother, standing at 
the head of a family, your influence in that home 
as a priest to offer daily sacrifice to God is beyond 
all your powers of estimation. 

To a young Christian it is often a great cross 
to conduct family worship. In many homes it is 
sorrowfully neglected, or observed with much 
irregularity. The writer distinctly remembers 
a conflict at this very point, though it is now 
more than twenty years ago. Reared in a home 
where the family altar always honored God, he 
had known nothing but to worship God in the 
family home. Father was a preacher, and when he 
was from home, mother conducted devotion. Often 
one of the children was asked to lead in prayer, 
and this the writer did in turn with the rest. 
But when his own home was to be built, there 
came a peculiar experience. He was a minister 
of Jesus Christ, and everywhere at all times ac- 
customed to pray in the homes he entered. But 
the first day in the new home, with but two, a 
pious wife and himself, Satan had the audacity to 
suggest that each one might do his or her pray- 
ing privately, and the more so since there were 
but two. What a sorrowful concession to fear 



54 Sacvtb flours voxil} IJoung <Li}xxstxans. 

and Satan that would have been if the family 
altar had not been then and there erected ! 

"Fair is the sight by Israel's psalmist sung, 

Of those whom God hath in one worship joined, 
In peace and unity and love combined; 
Most fair when all assemble, old and young, 
Parents and children, those who serve among 
Those whom they serve, with sacred feeling kind 
Each to the other, and with knee inclined 
In patriarchal worship, heart and tongue." 

1. Family prayer brings Christ and God into 
the home. God comes in tenderness, in love, in 
grace, to the devout family. He comes in his 
providences and holds out his arms and smiles, 
and the little babe goes away with him, and 
leaves the mother all broken-hearted, crying and 
looking unto heaven where her babe has gone. 
He comes and speaks to grandfather and grand- 
mother, and they put up their staffs and glasses 
and leave their easy chairs and go to the grave. 
He comes, and father and mother kiss their chil- 
dren and say good-bye, and they never come 
back to see how their children are getting along. 
He comes, and the strong brother and loved sister 
look out of wistful eyes of love and pain, and say 
farewell, and they never brighten the joy of the 
home again. God will come. You may hang 
up a placard to God, and tell him, "No admit- 



family IDorsl?ip« 55 

tance into this home"; but he will throw the 
card down in a storm, or melt it with his breath, 
and walk right into the home. How blessed 
is that home where the father and mother and 
children Avelcome God morning and evening with 
song and prayer and the study of his word! 
When God is invited into a home he brings peace 
and love and joy and heaven. It may require 
some time and some courage to erect and sustain 
a family altar ; but it will make your home the 
outer court to heaven. 

2. Family prayer makes the home a sacred 
place. . It gives it the aroma and breath of 
heaven. The ties and influences of that home 
are all baptized in the love of Jesus. Every 
hour of that home life is hallowed with the 
influence of the morning oblation to God. 

3. Family devotion refines the manners, 
softens the hearts, purifies the loves, abates the 
false ambitions, inspires the holy purposes, com- 
forts the heartaches, of all members of the home. 
Father and mother, and sons and daughters, and 
brothers and sisters speak kindly and walk 
softly as they come to, and retire from, the family 
prayer. The tenderness of that hour and the 
soul-refining of that exercise go down through all 
the duties of the day. 



56 Sacv^b ^ours w'xil} ^oung Cf^ristians, 

4. Family prayer gives order and regularity 
and strength and unity to the home. 

5. Family worship builds up the home into 
immortality. It hallows and immortalizes every 
memory of that home. In coming years, when 
memory fades, and when the dear associations of 
the family home are all broken up forever, the 
power and love and blessing of the family altar 
will be the heritage of lonely hearts. Father's 
voice will still be heard. The heart will start up 
in the same old song : 

" Lord, in the morning thou shalthear 
My voice ascending high ; 
To thee will I direct my prayer, 
To thee lift up mine eye." 

6. Family prayer fortifies every member of 
the home against the powers of temptation. In 
the terrible war for the maintenance of the Federal 
Union, the praying men of a Massachusetts regi- 
ment at Fort Albany took a friend visiting them 
to the bomb-proof of the fort, and told him that 
was their place of praying. The family altar is 
the bomb-proof of that home. 

7. The worship of God as a family always 
leaves hopeful assurances for the day. Father 
goes away from home ; but the last recollections 
of him are his prayers at the morning hour. 



Mother lies down and never rises again; but her 
voice in the evening song rings on as of old. 
Brother and sister go away from the old home 
shelter, and never come back again; but how the 
hopes depend upon the impressions left on the 
heart in the pious services of the home ! 

8. The worship of God in the family home 
promotes familiarity with Jesus, and makes him a 
constant companion. How can father and mother, 
how can the children, get on amid the cares, the 
sorrows, the loneliness, the losses, the tasks, of life 
without the familiar fellowship of Jesus? 

9. Family prayer leads to the salvation of the 
unsaved members of the family. Here is a 
beautiful illustration found in a precious little 
volume, "The New Life." A lady came into a 
woman's prayer meeting and said, "Dear sisters, 
I can tell you when God will answer our prayers. 
It will be when we are willing to bear any cross 
he may lay upon us. Twenty-three years ago 
I married an impenitent husband. I determined 
to pray for him every day till he was converted. 
I continued to do so twenty-one years without 
any answer. Two years ago I brought this 
prayer: 'Lord, if there is anything I am doing, 
or neglecting to do, which prevents his conver- 
sion, wilt thou show it to me?' I was imme- 



58 Sacreb Incurs wxil) ^oung Cl^rtstians. 

diately impressed with the duty of praying with 
him; but I shrank from it. The duty became 
clearer and clearer; but I resisted. At length 
the impression was overwhelming. I left the 
lecture room one night, and went home and said, 
'Husband, my heart is burdened. Are you 
willing that I should set up a family altar in our 
house?' ' Certainly,' said he. I commenced. Soon 
he began to go to the meetings. In two weeks 
he said, 'Wife, I can endure it no longer; my soul 
is in an agony. Pray for me.' We knelt and 
prayed, and he gave his heart to Jesus, and is 
happy in Christ's love." 

XXI. HOW TO HAVE FAMILY WORSHIP. 

1. Select seasons when all the family can 
most conveniently assemble. 

2. Let the services be short and interesting. 

3. Do not omit the reading of the word of 
God. If you have time to read only a verse of 
Scripture, read that. 

4. If your family can sing, employ song, with 
the use of a musical instrument if you have one 
in your home. 

5. Let all the members of the family take 
part, at least occasionally, either in prayer or in 
the reading of the word of God. 



^orD to i^apc family XPorsbip. 59 

6. Avoid praying the same ])rayer all the 
time. Ask God for what you want. 

7. Let thanksgiving to God for all his mercies 
on the home and on every member of the family- 
be duly made. AVhat family but can sing:* 

"Thus far the Lord has led me on, 

Thus far his power prolongs my days; 
And every evening shall make known 
Some fresh memorial of thy praise." 



CHAPTER V. 

The Word of God— Have Your Own Bible— How and 
When to Read it. 

In the duties and trials of a Christian hfe, our 
Lord has given us many ever present and mighty 
companions and helpers. It most seriously be- 
hooves every young Christian to study carefully 
the resources of the Christian life. He ought to 
know perfectly the helps to the achievement of 
the wonderful crown he has started out to win. 
God has not left us alone. 

XXII. THE WORD OF GOD. 

If th^ Christian life is a warfare, then the 
word of God is all essential, for it is the 
"sword of the Spirit." If the Christian way is 
a pilgrimage, then the word of God is a guide, 
for the psalmist says, " Thou shalt guide me with 
thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory." 
If the Christian's feet walk in paths of darkness, 
then the Bible is all essential, for "thy word is a 
lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Is 
the Christian's heart often full of sorrow? then the 
word of God is our consolation, for we are to 



Ct?e VOoxb of ©Ob. 61 

"comfort one another with these words." No one 
will ever make real progress in Christian living 
if he neglects the word of God. 

1. Make yourself the owner of a convenient 
and good copy of the Bible. It is a shame that 
many who are professed followers of God in our 
own land do not have Bibles of their own. 
There is a great variety of copies and editions of 
the Bible intended for convenient and daily use. 
Many of these contain helps of excellent charac- 
ter, and are so permanently bound that they can 
be used daily for almost a lifetime and yet be 
well preserved, if carefully and respectfully 
handled. So long as you are true to the Bible 
your religious life will be sure. It secures and 
promotes intelligence in the things of God. How 
can anyone grow without food? How can any 
soul grow without the word of God, which is the 
soul's daily food? The way to growth, so as to 
be useful to yourself and to others about you, is to 
study carefully and constantly the Bible. With- 
out it you will always be fluctuating or ignorant 
or vain or self-conceited, and useless in the 
church. 

The Bible gives security. Trust not alone to 
your experience and feelings. These are fluc- 
tuating and unreliable. Compare your experiences 



62 Sacreb ^ours voxtl} IJourt^ (Llfxxstians. 

with the teachings and truths of the word of God. 
By so doing you will find you have perfect 
security. The writer had a very dear friend who 
enlisted in the army in the terrible war for the 
Union. Hearts yearned for his safety and for 
fear that he would forget God; but he took with 
him the Bible his mother gave him. When a 
comrade laughed at his profession of religion and 
said, " You will soon quit that here in the army," 
he drew from his pocket his Bible, replying, 
" As long as you see me with that book, you can 
bet that I have not backslid." He kept the book 
and the book kept him, and when the cruel 
war was over he entered the ministry, and for 
twenty years has faithfully preached the Christ of 
that blessed Bible. 

2. It will be a great blessing if you secure 
also a small copy of the New Testament or of 
some part of it, which you can readily carry in 
the pocket to the store, the shop, and the field. 
By this method the Bible and Christ will become 
constant companions. In moments of temptation 
or solitude or loneliness or heart hunger, some 
precious passage from the word of God will give 
unbounded comfort and joy. The writer calls to 
memory among the most blessed experiences of 
a Christian the great blessings which were thus 



tn?e XPorb of (5o6. 63 

realized in his early Christian Hfe. When fol- 
lowing the plow and in other toil, often during 
the day, taking from the pocket the small copy 
of the New Testament and reading only a few 
verses from its blessed pages, there came precious 
illuminations and joy which led the soul out into 
the richest communion with God. Streams, yea, 
floods, of light came upon his young heart, and 
lifted it into higher and broader and more blessed 
experiences of love and peace and joy. Tempta- 
tions faded away like the mists of the morning 
before the rising sun. The days were sweet and 
too short. The word led directly to the pouring 
out of the soul in prayer and communion with 
God. The heaA'ens were cloudless, and toil was 
sweet, and life seemed opening a sweet walk with 
Jesus. None but those who have tried this habit 
of carrying the word of God with them and 
making it strength to the arm, food to the 
heart, light to the soul, honey and bread to the 
mouth, can tell how sweet it is. He who delights 
in the law of the Lord and meditates upon it, 
" shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of 
water." His leaf shall never wither, and his soul 
feel no drought. 

A story is related of a young man, many years 
ago, who went into a store in New York, seeking 



64 Sacreb Incurs tr>tt^ IJoun^ (Lt^ristians. 

a position as a clerk. Standing in the counting- 
room, he was informed that he was not w^anted. 
"But," said he, "I have the best of references," 
one of which was from a most highly respected 
person. He began turning over his valise to find 
the letter of recommendation, when a book rolled 
out on the floor. "What book is that?" sharply 
asked the merchant. "It is the Bible, sir," was 
the answer returned. "And what are you going to 
do with that book in New York? " The unabashed 
young man looked calmly into the face of the 
merchant and said, "I promised my mother I 
would read it every day, and I shall always do 
so." When the wealthy merchant heard these 
words, he told him that he had a place for him. 
He held his place, and won his way to a partner- 
ship in the business, by fidelity to the promise 
made his mother to read the Bible. Be true to 
the word of God. 

3. Always read the Bible as a letter to you 
from God. Take time to think who it is that 
speaks to you, and how great the theme on which 
he would address you. 

4. Begin reading the word of God with a mo- 
ment's thought-prayer to God to give you his 
Spirit to interpret to you the message of light and 
truth. 



tn?e VOotb of ^06, 65 

5. Do not give much time to critical passages 
of Scripture. They have their uses, but are not 
for you as a beginner in the school of God. It 
would be a great folly for a student in mathemat- 
ics to undertake first the most difficult problem 
of that wonderful science. Let him master the 
simpler problems, and by and by the most intri- 
cate w^U be as simple and clear as those he 
undertook at the opening of his studies. So with 
the word of God. Study the plainest and simplest 
truths so as to realize all their meaning and 
sweetness, and by and by you will be surprised to 
find that the most difficult passages have become 
more plain, and those parts of the Bible which 
you thought useless will bring you great blessing. 

6. Read the Bible earnestly. Put your heart 
and mind upon it. Listless, careless reading of 
the Bible is a great mistake. 

7. Read the Bible when you are not tired, but 
when you are feeling well. There are hundreds 
and thousands who read the Bible only when 
they are tired in body or perplexed in mind and 
spirit. In such a time and under such condi- 
tions they could not do anything well, nor could 
they be interested in anything when thus wearied. 
Give yourself a fair chance with the word of God. 

8. Read the Bible prayerfully. It will secure 



66 Sacub ^ours tpttl? ^oun^ Cl^nsttans, 

to you the illumination of the Holy Spirit upon 
the word. It will also promote teachableness in 
your own heart. It will also secure grace to help 
you to profit immediately by the teachings of the 
word of God. The writer knows of some who 
have found great blessing in reading and study- 
ing the holy word of God alone upon their 
knees. It will well reward anyone to try it. 

9. Turn to the word of God in all times of 
sorrow and trial. It is related that a short time 
before Sir Walter Scott died, he desired to be 
taken into the library, a great chamber filled with 
the most interesting and highly prized books and 
pictures and portraits. From its window he could 
look down upon the softly flowing river Tweed. 
Seated at his window, he asked his son-in-law. 
Dr. Lockhart, to read to him. " From what book 
shall I read," said he. "You ask what book! 
There is but one book/' said the dying author. 
His biography tells us: "I chose John 14. He 
listened with mild devotion and said, when I had 
done, 'Well, this is a great comfort. I have fol- 
lowed you distinctly, and I feel as if I was to be 
myself again.'" 

10. Lean on the word of God in every trial 
and sorrow. When a dying soldier of the 
Crimean war lay on the ground, he called to a 



Ct}e XDovb of ®o6. 67 

comrade, "Give me a drop, one drop." "There 
is not a drop of water in my canteen," responded 
his fellow. "No, no," he exclaimed; "open my 
knapsack and get my Bible, and give me a drop 
from the wells of salvation." As his comrade 
read to his dying ears, he exclaimed : " That is it ! 
that is it! I shall never get back to England 
and home again; but I shall go to a better 
country." 

" Blessed Bible ! How I love it ! 
How it doth my bosom cheer ! 
What hath earth like this to covet? 
Oh, what stores of wealth are here I" 



CHAPTER VI. 

Public Means of Grace — Christian Baptism— Lord's Supper 
— Preaching of the Word. 

In these conversations with you who are begin- 
ning to walk the King's highway, we have for the 
most part dwelt upon those portions of your life 
and experience in which you are found largely 
alone with God or in communion with him in 
your own home. These are the foundations of 
your religious building, and the reserve resources 
of your strength in the battle of life. But besides 
these, or in addition to them, God has provided 
for you other helps and broader fields of delight. 

XXIII. PUBLIC MEANS OF GRACE. 

There is to every Christian an ever opening 
and widening field before the world in the priv- 
ileges and blessings of the church and Christian 
society. Here you are a magnet, which receives 
from, and also imparts to, other bodies near you. 
In the public means of grace the Christian receives 
blessing from God and from his fellow men, and 
he also imparts good to his fellows and to the 
cause of God. If he is not a sun, he is at least a 



(Et^ristian Baptism. 69 

moon, who receives light from the great Sun of 
Eighteousness, and reflects light upon the path- 
way of others. 

XXIV. CHRISTIAN BAPTISM. 

It is not only a duty, but a great pleasure, to 
acknowledge Christ Jesus in Christian baptism. 
Jesus gave to his disciples and apostles the same 
command to baptize those who believed, that he 
did to preach, teach, and disciple the nations of 
the earth. Besides this, we have a number of 
instances given us in the New Testament where 
new believers were instructed to be baptized at once. 

Baptism is a beautiful symbol of our cleansing 
by the blood of Christ, and is indeed held by the 
church as a sacrament, setting forth that blessed 
cleansing. It is also a consecration, or setting 
apart, of our bodies and lives to the service of 
Jesus and a full profession of our faith in Christ 
as our great Purifier. 

This blessed ordinance of the church of Chri&t 
becomes us well at the very beginning of our 
Christian life. Jesus was baptized of John in 
the Jordan at the time of his entrance upon his 
public ministry ; and though his baptism was in 
introduction into the great high-priesthood, it 
furnishes us a beautiful and holy example. 



70 Sacreb ^ours wxtl} IJoung Cl^nsttans. 

Our Church wisely leaves the mode of baptism 
to the choice of the subject, and baptism is admin- 
istered by sprinkling or pouring or immersion. 
There is abundant evidence that all these modes 
were in practice very early in the history of the 
Christian church. The obligation to follow 
Christ in this ordinance rests upon the divine 
command, and they find great peace who keep 
this law of God. 

XXV. THE lord's SUPPER. 

The same night in which Jesus was betrayed, 
he was with his disciples far into the night in an 
upper room in Jerusalem. There, after eating 
with them the passover, Jesus instituted the 
"Lord's supper," as it is most appropriately 
called. It is sometimes called the eucharist — a 
giving of thanks; sometimes the communion, as 
a festival, because in it we commune with God 
and his people. It comes to the mind and heart 
with great sacredness, because it was instituted by 
Jesus, and first observed by his disciples while he 
was yet with them. It is a sign showing forth 
the wonderful love and the death of Christ; and 
it is also a seal placed upon us by the Lord, 
into which we lovingly and fully enter. 

1. This sacrament is for all. Jesus said, "Drink 



Cl?e Corb's Supper, 71 

ye all of it"; that is, drink ye every one of you 
of it. 

2. It is in memory of the love and death of 
Jesus. He says, " Ye do show the Lord's death 
till he come." 

3. It is to be celebrated frequently. Jesus 
says, "As oft as ye drink it," implying frequency 
of observance. 

4. It is a testimony before the world. "Ye 
do show the Lord's death." Jesus would be 
remembered, and presented before the world, by us. 

5. It anticipates the return of Jesus the second 
time. " Ye do show the Lord's death till he come." 

Many young Christians are troubled with the 
words of Paul in I. Corinthians 11:27, in which 
he says, "Whosoever shall eat this bread, and 
drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be 
guilty of the body and blood of the Lord"; and 
again, " He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, 
eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not 
discerning the Lord's body." But let it be re- 
membered always that the apostle does not in 
those passages speak of the unworthiness of those 
who come to the table of the Lord, but of the 
manner of celebrating the sacrament, as done in 
a manner unworthy. This was done by making 
it a drunken feast rather than a commemorative 



72 Sacreb ^ours tPttl? ^oung Cl^nsttans. 

ordinance. He does not speak of the worthiness 
of the person, but of the manner of eating and 
drinking the wine. So, let no one who loves 
Christ, and turns away from sin, and longs to 
be Christ's, and trusts in his love and blood, ever 
be kept away from the table of our loving Lord. 

"Blessed are the lips that taste 
Our Kedeemer's marriage feast: 
Blessed who on him shall feed, 
Bread of life, and drink indeed: 
Blessed, for their thirst is o'er; 
They shall never hunger more." 

1. Come to the Lord's table penitently — con- 
fessing your sin. Hide nothing in your heart. 

2. Come believingly, and with full trust in 
Jesus, who died for you. 

3. Come with love to Jesus. It is a feast of 
love. Pour out your heart as did Mary with the 
ointment. 

4. Come with thanksgiving. Bless his name. 

5. Come with love to all whom Jesus loves. 
If you are his disciple, you are to be Hke him. 

6. Come with humility. A proud heart can- 
not be tolerated at the table of the Lord. It is 
told of the Duke of Wellington that at one time in 
his parish church, when he came forward up one 
aisle to take his place in the observance of the 
sacrament, a very poor old man went forward in 



preact^tng of tl?e Wovb, 73 

the opposite aisle, and coming to the communion 
table, knelt close by the side of the Duke. Some 
one came and spoke to the ill-clad old man to 
remove a little way, or to wait till the Duke of 
Wellington had communed. But the alert eye 
and ear of the great military commander under- 
stood the meaning of what was transpiring beside 
him, and he clasped the rough hand of the old 
man, and said reverently and softly, "Do not 
move; we are all equal here." So, brother and 
sister, remember that at the table of Jesus we are 
all equal. Blessed thought! We are at the feet 
and in the fellowship of Jesus. 

The Christian is a learner. Having come to 
Christ, he has found the way to the fountain of 
wisdom. No spirit more fittingly characterizes 
the young Christian than that of teachableness. 
He not only learns from direct study of the word 
of God, but the experience and treasures of knowl- 
edge found in the church are all intended for his 
improvement. For this purpose God has organ- 
ized the church, and in this rests one of the 
greatest blessings of the church to us. 

XXVI. PREACHING OP THE WORD. 

Attendance upon the house of God to hear the 
word of the Master is putting the plant of grace 



74 Sacreb Incurs tDtti? IJoung Cl^rtsttans. 

out where the dehcious rains of heaven can fall 
down upon it. Under these showers grace grows 
and the heart flourishes. 

There are two great blessings realized in the 
hearing of the preaching of the word of God. 
One is comfort in times and conditions of sorrow 
and trial; the other, instruction and strengthening 
of the heart and life. 

The preacher of the gospel brings us the word 
and thought of God wrought out in human ex- 
perience. He not only shows us the word of 
God, but that word as it is adapted to the various 
conditions of duty, suffering, and trial in life. 
It is the business of the preacher so to study the 
word of God and the conditions of those to whom 
he ministers, as to be able to give forth that par- 
ticular truth which the hearer most needs for 
spiritual upbuilding. You may, therefore, con- 
fidently expect from the preaching of the word 
that which will profit you spiritually, even if at 
times it may be reproof or correction. 

The preaching of the word is as food to the 
soul. It imparts the elements which sustain and 
enlarge the spiritual life. 

A neglect of the house of God, or a disposition 
to absent one's self from its services, is to be looked 
upon at once as a dangerous and alarming symp- 



preacljing of tt?e IDorb. 75 

torn. If one is indisposed to receive food for the 
support of the body, that condition at once occa- 
sions alarm, and the physician is soon called. In 
the same degree is it true that when the heart 
does not relish the house of God and the preaching 
of the word, there is spiritual ill health, and the 
person has just cause for alarm. 

The sanctuary has in its services many elements 
which draw out the heart. Our union in song 
and prayer and fellowship together as-one blessed 
family in the house of our Father, make it, to the 
Christian heart, indeed the ''gate of heaven." 
Standing in the gate, the spiritual eye catches 
many a glimpse of what there is in the city in 
the skies. 

1. Hear the word regularly. The soul, to 
grow, must have its spiritual food in proper 
seasons. The minister of Christ studies and 
prepares with a view to meet these returning 
necessities of the soul. It is well to form a habit 
of regular and faithful attendance upon the house 
of God. 

2. Hear the word remembering that the 
preacher is called and commissioned of God to 
speak to you the things pertaining to eternal life. 
It is not the mere opinion and thought of the 
speaker to which you listen. He has behind him 



76 Sacrcb ^ours voxil) ^Joung (El^risttans. 

the authority and wisdom of the church and the 
authority and instruction of the Lord of hosts. 

3. Hear the word, with self-criticism. There 
are many who hear the word critically, carefully 
observing any error in statement, in felicity, in 
argument, any fault in gesture or manner of de- 
hvery, or any apparent inappropriateness of 
utterances. By such the preacher is severely 
criticised. Others who hear are busy applying 
the words spoken to those about them. They 
see at once how it fits this brother and that sister 
and another neighbor. These are sometimes 
ready to compliment the preacher, and tell how 
plainly he preached and how it just suited such 
and such persons. The true spirit of criticism is 
to diligently and faithfully apply the word to 
one's self — see how every part is suited to com- 
fort, instruct, warn, and save one's own heart 
and thought, character and life. 

4. Hear patiently the unpleasant word. There 
are times when the pastor must speak with great 
plainness and in utterances which, for the 
present, are not joyous, but rather grievous. 
There are those who have itching ears, who call 
for "smooth things"; but we have need to hear 
the unpleasant things. 

5. Hear patiently the word of God when it 



preacl)tng of il}^ Woxb, 77 

comes as a reproof and an admonition. If the 
seed of grace would grow, it must sometimes have 
the hard soil of the heart dug up and softened. 
Then, too, there may weeds grow up in our hearts 
and lives, and these must be pulled up thoroughly 
and dug up root and branch. my brother^ 
be not offended by the word of the preacher, 
though it come with great plainness and point 
out ten thousand faults. 

It is a precious evidence of the genuineness of 
one's piety when reproof is taken faithfully and 
in love. It casts a sorrowful comment on our 
profession of Christ when we become offended and 
angry at the word and at the preacher that 
plainly point out our faults. 

6. Be not a forgetful hearer, but "a doer 
that worketh." Make personal application of the 
word to your life. It will be a poor sermon to 
you, however delightful and entertaining, if it 
does not lead you to some better resolve and a 
better effort in life. It all centers in this one 
thing — the doing of the word. This done, you 
have it all; this lost, all is lost. Hear the words 
of Christ; believe the words of Christ; and by 
these words of Christ build your house for all 
eternity. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Meetings for Prayer — Prayer -Meeting Blessings— What 
All Know — Concerning the Prayer Meeting — Praise 
and Testimony Meetings— The Class Meeting Testi- 
mony Service — Blessings of Testimony Meetings. 

Besides prayer and the preaching of the word 
and the ordinances of the church, God has estab- 
lished in his church various other means of grace 
exceedingly helpful to those who would walk 
blameless before the Lord. 

XXVII. MEETINGS FOE, PRAYER. 

The Holy Scriptures give us a number of exam- 
ples in which the children of God came together 
for mutual prayer. It was in such capacity 
that the disciples were assembled on the day of 
Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost fell on all the 
people. The young Christian should form a 
habit of regular and prompt attendance upon the 
prayer meeting of the church, whether it be held 
on the Sabbath day, as is often the case, or on a 
week-day evening. 

XXVIII. PRAYER-MEETING BLESSINGS. 

The benefit of this attendance upon the prayer 
meeting is twofold: 

78 



prayer ^IHeettn^ Blessings. 79 

1. To one's own heart and life. This secures 
fellowship with the people of God. It directs the 
attention to divine and eternal things. It helps 
the mind and heart by being led in prayer by 
others whose understanding of our needs and of 
God's gracious supply is broader than our own. 
It enlarges our sympathy with our brethren and 
strengthens the bond of fellowship with them. 
It cultivates us in the exercises of devotion, in 
singing spiritual songs, and in prayer. It main- 
tains statedly the worship of God, in which we 
have a share. It secures the blessed promise, 
"Where two or three are gathered together in my 
name, there am I in the midst of them." 

2. This benefit accrues to others — to the 
church and the community. While the prayer 
meeting largely determines the spiritual condition 
of the church, it also indicates with like certainty 
the spiritual interest of the individual members 
of the church, and the degree of their activity for 
the salvation of others. A young Christian in no 
way indicates to others his fidelity to God more 
than by promptness of attendance upon the 
prayer meeting. The church expects it, and the 
world will be surprised if it is not so. The 
prayer meeting is the spiritual business meeting 
of the society. It is the meeting Tvhere the mem- 



80 Sacreb ^ours w\ii} IJoung (Ei^rtsttans. 

bers make out orders on heaven for such things 
as are considered most needful for the church and 
for the individual members. 

XXIX. WHAT ALL KNOW. 

There are few persons, if any, who truly desire 
to live devout spiritual lives, and to be happy, use- 
ful Christians, who do not know the value of the 
prayer meeting. And yet there is no means of 
grace so sorrowfully neglected. It is, moreover, 
true that the hour spent with the children of God 
' — those whom we have chosen as our spiritual and 
churchly companions on the way to heaven — is 
one of the sweetest spent on earth. It often opens 
the doors into the Beulah land where the soul 
enjoys richest foretastes of the joy soon to be 
realized with God at home. 

XXX. CONCERNING THE PRAYER MEETING. 

There are a few things concerning the prayer 
meeting which should be determined at once: 

1. Attend the regular prayer meetings of the 
church, unless providentially hindered. 

2. Let no business engagement, or visiting of 
friends, or visits from friends, keep you from the 
meeting for prayer. 



Concerning tl)c prayer 2T(ceting» 81 

3. Do not allow your attendance to depend 
upon the attendance of some one else. Go if there 
are none others. A story is told of a certain 
good woman, who, when it was decided to close 
the prayer meeting in a certain village, declared 
that it should not be, for she would be there if 
no one else was. She was true to her w^ord, and 
when the next morning some one said to her 
rather jestingly, "Did you have a prayer meeting 
last night? " "Ah, that we did," she replied. " How 
many were present?" "Four," she said. "Why,'^ 
said he, "I heard that you were there all alone." 
" No," she said ; " I was the only one visible, but 
the Father was there, and the Son was there, and 
the Holy Spirit was there, and w^e were all agreed 
in prayer." Before long, others took shame to 
themselves at the earnest perseverance of a poor 
old woman, and soon there was a revived prayer 
meeting and a prospering church. 

4. Take your part in the j)rayer meeting. 
Always be willing to lead in prayer, if called 
upon, or to take your part in a meeting when 
prayers are voluntary. 

5. Let no feeling of timidity cause you to omit 
taking your part. 

6. Eemember that you pray to the Lord, and 
not to the people. 



82 Sacreb ^ours tr>ttl? ^oun^ (E()rtsttans» 

7. If you would hesitate because older mem- 
bers of the church are present, remember their 
anxiety that you bear the cross meekly. They 
will be disappointed, and disheartened it may be, 
if you do not take up the cross promptly. 

8. Remember that it is a great comfort and 
joy to those who are older in the service of Christ 
to have you lead them in prayer. 

9. It is not the eloquent or well worded prayer 
that reaches the ear of God or edifies those with 
whom you are praying, but the simple prayer of 
the heart to God, though in broken language. 

10. If there are older Christians present, and 
those who pray more fluently than you, remember 
that none will so fully sympathize with any 
weakness or imperfection in your prayer as they. 

11. Try to ask God just for what you and 
those with you most need. 

12. As much as possible avoid forms of prayer 
and stereotyped phrases. It is better to use them 
than not to pray at all; but by asking for what 
you need, these phrases will fall out of use. 

13. Do not pray too long. The most of the 
prayers given us in the Bible are short. See how 
short is the prayer the Lord gave us. Do not be 
afraid of making a prayer too short. Mr. Spur- 
geon says, " I never like to have one of my deacons 



(Eoncerning tE;e Prayer ZTTeettng. 83 

pray for a half hour, and conclude with asking 
the Lord to forgive our short-coming s^ 

How beautifully sings Hugh Stowell, who 
WTote more than fifty years ago these precious 
words : 

" From every stormy wind that blows, 
From every swelling tide of woes, 
There is a calm, a sure retreat : 
'T is found before the mercy seat. 

" There is a place where Jesus sheds 
The oil of gladness on our heads, — 
A place than all besides more sweet : 
It is the blood-bought mercy seat. 

*' There is a spot w^here spirits blend, 
Where friend holds fellowship with friend ; 
Though sundered far, by faith they meet 
Around one common mercy seat." 

The social element in religion and in the relig- 
ious life is as cheering and helpful as it is in any 
other life. AVe are formed not only for society, 
but formed into society. It is a great mistake for 
a young Christian to suppose, that because he or 
she has united with the church, a melancholy 
life is to follow, or that the social ties and bonds 
are to be broken. This is not the case. But it 
ought to be remembered that these social tenden- 
cies of our nature, and habits and disposition of 
mutual intercommunication, are to be great helps 
to us in the Christian life. 



84 Sacxzb ^ours vo'xtl} IJoun^ Cl^ristians. 

XXXI. PRAISE AND TESTIMONY MEETINGS. 

As far back in Bible times as the days of 
Malachi, meetings for testimony and the relating 
of experience were held with great profit. The 
prophet Malachi tells us: "Then they that feared 
the Lord spake often one to another ; and the 
Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of 
remembrance was written before him for them 
that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his. 
name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord 
of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels ;. 
and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own 
son that serveth him." In all our societies, meet- 
ings are held for the relating of personal exper- 
ience, the giving of testimony, and the opportunity 
of offering public praise and thanksgiving to God. 

XXXII. THE CLASS MEETING. 

These exercises, held by many churches, are 
intended to be fellow^ship meetings for a few 
persons, where they may speak one to another 
most freely of those things which concern the 
soul, of temptations and peculiar trials and 
victories and blessings and triumphs through 
grace. In these meetings the Scriptures are 
expounded by the leader, and their application 
made to the peculiar condition of those present, 



Blessings of testimony IHeettngs. 85 

as each case may require; also, special instruc- 
tions are given how to meet and overcome 
temptations and what means to use in the various 
conditions of life in order to grow in grace and in 
the love of God. The young Christian should 
use great freedom in these meetings, and speak 
with honesty and simplicity the daily experience 
of his or her heart. 

XXXIII. BLESSINGS OF TESTIMONY MEETINGS. 

The advantages and blessings which we derive 
from this testimony for Christ before the world, are 
indicated in those wonderful words of Jesus: 
*' Whosoever therefore shall confess me before 
men, him will I confess also before my Father 
which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny 
me before men, him will I also deny before my 
Father which is in heaven." 

1. It is a great and wonderful privilege to be 
permitted to confess Jesus Christ before the world, 
and to testify to the fact that he has power on 
earth to forgive sins, and that he has power to 
"save even me." 

2. These meetings always afford an oppor- 
tunity and an incentive to review the mercies 
and blessings of God in our religious experience 
and life. 



86 Sacreb ^ours voxil} ^oung Cl^nstians, 

3. They give us a good opportunity to com- 
pare our present religious condition, experience, 
and strength with that of the past. 

4. They furnish us a comparison of the 
experience and trials of others, and show us how 
they have triumphed through the grace of God, 
and thus give us great encouragement. 

5. They cultivate sympathy and love one for 
another, and strengthen the bonds of Christian 
brotherhood and fellowship. 

6. They cultivate and secure mutual acquaint- 
ance, which awakens a deeper interest in one 
another and enables us to pray profitably and 
intelligently for one another. 

7. This relation of Christian experience has 
great power to convince those who do not believe 
in Jesus. It is related that a curious and infidel 
lawyer once went into a testimony meeting and 
took notes of the testimonies given. He did 
so to ridicule religion and have sport ; but the 
testimony so overpowered his heart that at the 
close of the service he arose and said: " My friends, 
I hold in my hand the testimony of no less than 
sixty persons who have spoken here this morning, 
who all testify with one consent that there is a 
divine reality in religion, and that they have 
experienced it in their own hearts. Many of 



Blesstnojs of Ccsttmony UTccttngs. 87 

these persons I know. Their testimony would be 
received in any court of justice. Lie they would 
not, I know ; and mistaken they cannot all be. I 
have been skeptical as to these things, but now I 
am convinced of their truth and must lead a new 
life. Will you pray for me ? " 

8. Christian testimony leads many souls to 
Christ. When Hugh Latimer, the Christian 
martyr, was a zealous Roman Catholic priest and 
preached against the Reformation, an ardent 
young convert, Thomas Bilney, who longed to 
do something to serve his blessed Master, went to 
Latimer and told him he wanted to confess to 
him. There in the confessional he told Latimer 
the whole burning story of his conviction, con- 
version, and blessed state of happiness. The 
Spirit attended the confession, and the heart of 
the priest was reached by grace ; and from that 
hour Latimer gave his life to the cause he had 
persecuted, at the last to seal his testimony w4th 
his burning blood. 

9. Testimony meetings fasten the seal and 
covenant of grace upon our hearts. Each con- 
fession of Christ is a renewal of our covenant 
with Jesus. It is a step taken toward greater 
intimacy with our loving Lord. 



CHAPTEK YIII. 

A Heart of Love — Love to Christ — Power of This Love 
— Practice of Love — Promptings of Love. 

The greatest care should be taken by every 
young Christian to maintain a heart full of love. 
Love is the warm sunshine of the soul from 
heaven, in which every spiritual grace grows to 
maturity. 

XXXIV. A HEART OF LOVE. 

This state of the religious life can only be 
maintained when the heart is made a heart of 
love for Christ's sake. Our affections are strange 
passions, and are too often controlled by the world, 
or by influences which do not harmonize with the 
spirit of Jesus Christ. Our heart relation to our 
fellow men is formed by a triangle, of which Jesus 
is one corner. Our fellow men compose one corner, 
Christ one corner, and ourselves one corner of this 
great triangle. At the same angle in which we 
connect \^dth Jesus do we also connect with our 
fellows, and at precisely the same angle is our 
union with those who are Christ's. Thus it is 
true that if we love Christ, in the same corre- 

88 



Powzt of C^is €or>e. 89 

sponding angle do we love his people. If we 
pretend to love Christ, but do not love those he 
loves, our profession is a pretense, and only a 
pretense; it is false to Christ. 

XXXV. LOVE TO CHRIST. 

This passion of the heart for Christ is the 
essence of religion, and its fountain current and 
power, which sustains the life in all its conditions. 
This love is begotten and sustained in us by the 
love of Jesus for us. The freedom of the love of 
Jesus for us, being shown us as terrible sinners; 
the sw^eetness and preciousness of that love of 
Jesus as it flows into the believing heart; and 
the infinite power of that love, — must always 
produce a warm and living response in the soul. 

XXXVI. POWER OF THIS LOVE. 

A tender, loving heart is not a weak heart. The 
reverse is true. A loving heart is a strong heart. 
That soul which is full of love to Jesus will find 
itself harnessed and equipped for every struggle. 
Dr. Cuyler says: "There is prodigious power in 
singleness of love for Jesus — in doing 'just one 
thing,' and that to live solely for the Master. 
A man of very moderate talents and endowments 
becomes a leading man as soon as Christ gets 



90 Sacreb £)ours tr>ttf? IQonxK^ (El^dstians. 

complete hold of him. I can point to more than 
one plain, modest, moderately educated Christian 
who has attained to a great propelling power in 
the church simply from the momentum of his 
godliness. He follows Jesus so heartily, so pro- 
jectively, that he carries others along with him by 
his sheer momentum. And that is not brain 
powder nor purse power mainly, but heart power." 
How this love of Jesus and what he has done for 
us ought to stir the soul to such a passion as never 
thrills it again until it stands before the great white 
throne! It is related that when Cyrus invaded 
Armenia, he captured the king with all his family, 
and ordered them before him. "Armenian," said 
he, "you are free; for you are sensible of your 
error. And what will you give me if I restore 
your wife to you?" "All that I am able." 
"What if I restore your children?" "All that I 
am able." "And you, Tigranes," said he, turning 
to the son, " what would you do to save your wife 
from servitude?" Now, Tigranes was but lately 
married, and had great love for his wife. " Cyrus," 
he replied, " to save her from servitude I would 
willingly lay down my own life." " Let each go 
his own w^ay," said Cyrus. And when he departed 
one spoke of his clemency, another of his valor, 
another of his beauty and the grace of his person; 



practice of Cope, 91 

upan which Tigranes asked his wife if she thought 
him handsome. '' Really," said she, " I did not 
look at him.'' "At whom then did you look?" 
"At him who offered to lay down his life for me." 
Who that once sees Jesus as his or her Savior can 
ever see any form to compare with that form 
divinely fair? See that you keep a tender heart, 
a warm and loving heart — a heart like Christ's. 

It is not enough that our hearts be filled with 
love to Christ and to our fellow men. This will 
lead us to an outward grace of life. 

XXXVII. PRACTICE OF LOVE. 

There is no grace which so adorns the Christian 
character as the practice of love toward all our 
fellow men. It manifests itself in a desire for the 
comfort, pleasure, well being, and prosperity of 
those about us. It causes us to feel pain of heart 
when anyone is wounded, and to avoid as far as 
possible everything which gives pain to anyone. 
It inspires to the performance of every duty in a 
manner which occasions the least pain to others 
and the greatest possible comfort to them. With 
this principle determined upon, — to practice love 
toward all men, — it is surprising how the imperfec- 
tions of men are diminished in our eyes, and w^e 
learn indeed to love those Avhom we once thought 



92 Sactcb ^ours voxtl} IJoung Ct^risttans. 

unlovable. The returns of this love practice will 
also be very precious; for there is much truth in 
the old proverb, "That you may be beloved, be 
amiable." Love with a single thread draws won- 
drously; and the greatest of English writers says, 
"They do not love that do not show their love." 
And this is the common view of mankind. 

This love one for another supplements the 
weaknesses of each other, and makes us mighty 
in the w^ork of God. 

"True love is humble; thereby it is known, 
Girded for service, seeking not its own; 
Exalts its object, timid homage pays, 
Vaunts not itself, but speaks in self-dispraise." 

XXXVIII. PROMPTINGS OF LOVE. 

Whenever there is this true love in the heart, 
it prompts to noble deeds and impels the practice 
of love toward others. Every true Christian does 
often experience this warm prompting of the fire 
of the heart within. It is this that bears up the 
struggle in the noblest and hardest toils of life. 
A most touching instance is related of a little 
girl — the daughter of a drunken father — whose 
mother was dead. She, though only a dozen 
summers old, tried to keep their home tidy and 
comfortable amid all the debauchery and cruelty 
of her father. One day, after a drunken debauch. 



Promptings of Cot)e, 93 

he awoke from sleep, and seeing his daughter 
busy preparing their scanty breakfast, his heart 
was touched with the sight of her childish form^ 
and he asked, "Mary, what makes you stay with 
me and do as you do?" Her answer came, "Be- 
cause you are my own father, and I love you." 
" You love me, you love me," repeated the besotted 
father, "you love me. What makes you love 
me? Nobody loves me. I am a poor drunkard; 
I am scorned on the streets, and pushed out of 
the saloons when my money is all gone; I am a 
wreck. My drunkenness drove your mother to 
the grave, and you love me! How can you love 
me?" The little girl gathered up heart to tell 
him. " Father," said she, " mother taught me to 
love you. She told me never to give you up; and 
every night, when I am alone asleej), she comes. 
from heaven, and kneels beside my bed, and tells 
me in a dream not to leave you, father, — that 
some day you will leave off the cursed drink, and 
then we will be so happy." How many hands 
are held faithful to the tedious tasks of life, and 
how many feet are pressed firm to the hard and 
sorrowful way of duty, by the promptings of a 
love of heart, taught by a blessed mother ! 

The young Christian should have always before 
him that one peerless example — Jesus, the Lamb 



94 Sacreb ^ours voxil} X^onng, CI?nstians. 

of God. His life was a life of ceaseless love; his 
death the hour that poured out his heart's blood 
in such love as the world had never known. Let 
us lay aside all bitterness, all malice, all deceit, 
all evil feeling, and " walk in love, as Christ also 
hath loved us." 

"All thoughts, all passions, all delights, 
Whatever stirs this mortal frame, — 
All are but ministers of God, 
And feed its sacred flame." 



CHAPTER IX. 

Love to Our Enemies — Love to Enemies Enjoined — Love 
to Enemies Illustrated — Joy of Love to Enemies — 
Power of Love for Enemies. 

There is but little difficulty in the Christian 
life in walking in fellowship with our friends and 
with those who are pleasing and kind to us. 
There is a more difficult and, indeed, a more 
important practice, 

XXXIX. LOVE TO OUR ENEMIES. 

There are many who concede readily enough 
the beauty and excellence of the practice of love 
toward an enemy, but who do not know sufficiently 
how to practice the grace, or knowing, do not 
consider it possible to reach such a state of heart 
and life. And yet this is one of the most impor- 
tant of all the graces of the Christian life, as it is 
one of the sweetest and most powerful. Enemies 
may be real, or they may be imaginary. Such is 
the condition of society that persons, through 
jealousy, envy, or other causes, are sometimes led 
to become real enemies, who do all they can, 
within the limits allowed to them by circuin- 

95 



96 Sacreb V}onts tottf? IJoung <L):}v\stxans. 

stances, ability, and education, to do the young 
disciple of Christ harm. These cases, however,, 
are not numerous. 

Some are enemies because of wrong impressions 
received from what they have heard from others, 
or by reason of some misunderstanding of our 
conduct or language. By these they have been 
led to a feeling of jealousy and enmity. 

In the great majority of cases in Christian 
society the enemy exists most largely in our own 
imagination. We have misunderstood those we 
call enemies as much as they have misjudged us,, 
and so we set them down as our enemies, when 
they would be only too glad to befriend and fel- 
lowship us. 

Whatever the cause, or however real or imag- 
inary our enemies, the course upon our part is all 
the same. It must be the feeling and practice of 
love. 

XL. LOVE TO ENEMIES ENJOINED. 

The wise man of the Old Testament times said: 
"Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let 
not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: lest 
the Lord see it, and it displease him"; and 
again, "If thine enemy be hungry, give him 
bread to eat." 



£ope to (Enemies '^UustxaUb. 97 

Jesus siiid: "Love your enemies, bless them 
that curse you, do good to them that hate you, 
and pray for them which despitefully use you, 
and persecute you. . . . For if ye love them which 
love you, what reward have ye? do not even the 
publicans the same?" "For if ye love them 
which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners 
also love those that love them. . . . Love ye 
your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for 
nothing again; and your reward shall be great, 
and ye shall be the children of the Highest." So 
the great apostle tells us: "If thine enemy hunger, 
feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so 
doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be 
not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." 

XLI. LOVE TO ENEMIES ILLUSTRATED. 

The most wonderful example of love toward 
enemies is given us in the life and death of our 
blessed Lord. He died for a world that was in 
enmity to him. This love he practiced in the 
most extreme circumstances, when dying on the 
cross. Then he offered that most wonderful of 
all prayers: "Father, forgive them; for they know 
not what they do." This heart prayer of the 
dying Jesus was for his enemies who condemned 
him to death, and those who had just nailed him 



98 Sacreb flours voxil} IJoung (EE^rtsttans. 

to the cross. When Stephen, the first Christian 
martyr, was dying, he was filled with the same, 
spirit. He had possibly passed by and seen Jesus 
when he was crucified, and was soon led into his 
service. He was being stoned to death only a 
few paces from where Jesus was crucified. If he 
had once seen Jesus on the cross, now he looked 
steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, 
and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. 
And as the mob rushed on him and stoned him 
to death, Stephen prayed to God, saying, "Lord 
Jesus, receive my spirit." And kneeling down, 
he prayed with a loud voice, "Lord, lay not this 
sin to their charge." And so, like his Lord, he 
died praying for his murderers. 

It is related of a general that when riding 
over a battlefield with a soldier, picking his way 
past the dead, he came upon one clad in the 
uniform of the foe who showed signs of life. 
The soldier turned him over. "Give him some 
water and wine," spoke the general. As the eye 
of the dying soldier recognized in his benefactor 
the commander of the forces against which he 
had fought, he drew his revolver in a death strug- 
gle, and fired it at the head of the general. It 
fortunately missed its aim, and he sank back in 
the struggle of death. The general, looking on 



3oy of £ope to (Enemies. 99 

him, said, " Give tlie poor fellow the drink all the 
same." These examples and injunctions need no 
comment. They are in accord with the better feel- 
ings and noblest thought of every Christian heart. 
It is a supreme joy that comes to the heart 
when one rises above the base, and returns good 
for evil. 

XLII. JOY OF LOVE TO ENEMIES. 

Virtue is often its own reward, and grace works 
on the same plane and by the same plan. A 
feeling of complacency toward our fellow men is 
one of the sweetest experiences of the soul. Mal- 
ice and jealousy and envy are bitter poisons to 
the soul, which cause a thousandfold more injury 
to their subject than they can to their object. 

It is also well for us to remember that real 
enemies are often our best friends, and sometimes 
our friends are our greatest enemies. Socrates, 
the old philosopher of Greece, used to say that 
every man had need of a faithful friend and a 
bitter enemy, the one to advise him and the other 
to make him look about him. We may often 
learn many valuable truths about ourselves from 
our enemies, which would never come to us by 
our friends. Some one says, ^'They are our out- 
ward consciences." 



100 Sacreb ^ours voxil) IJoung Cl^nsttans. 

The opinions of our enemies, who look at our 
faults, may be of incalculable value to us, and 
enable us to improve our lives in the highest 
sense. They also present to us an opportunity 
for the exercise of the choicest Christian grace. 
It was said of Archbishop Cranmer, "If you 
would have Cranmer do you a good turn, you 
need only do him some ill one." "We cannot 
think of another so happy as he whose heart is so 
full of love that it feels no bitterness, retains no 
bruises, cherishes no malice, knows no envy, 
experiences no feelings of revenge — nothing but 
love like that of our blessed Lord. The soul is 
never so happy as when filled with love toward 
enemies. 

How numerous are the examples of reconcili- 
ation in the dying chamber. Enmities that 
rankled all the life long in bosoms of hatred 
could not stand an hour in the face of death. 
A Southern soldier from Georgia was dying of a 
terrible wound on one of our great battlefields. 
As the blood flowed freely, he felt himself dying 
— djdng as a soldier. In the awful crisis there 
fell beside him a Union soldier. He was wounded 
severely. The Georgian saw from his blue uni- 
form that he was a Federal soldier. There was 
no other heart near the dying man. He had 



Poiper of €ope for Enemies. 101 

gone into the war to fight him and such as he; 
but now, far from friends and loved ones, his 
lonely heart throbbed near to none but his foe, 
and so he stretched out his hand, feeble in the 
mazes of death, and said: "We came into the 
battle enemies; let us die friends." The Union 
soldier, who lived to tell the words, grasped the 
dying hand and returned to him the parting 
''farewell." No man can face eternity with 
evil feelings in his heart toward any fellow man. 
How dare he live with them cherished in his 
heart? 

XLIII. POWER OF LOVE FOR ENEMIES. 

He who would be strong must carry no 
grudges. They are a weight to the character, 
whatever they may result in for the time, that 
will sink it at last. Schiller says: "A merely 
fallen enemy may rise again; but the reconciled 
one is truly vanquished." Men conquer every- 
where by love, and nowhere else so effectively as 
among enemies. Generosity to a foe in national 
affairs not only wins the foe, but commands the 
admiration of the world. Kindness and love to 
an enemy make to us friends of all men. Many 
a man by following an enemy with evil has lost 
his friends. Many a man bv kindness to one 



102 Sacreb flours voxil) IJoung CE^rtsttans. 

foe has conquered many, and grappled his friends 
to him with hooks of steel. 

When Tasso was told that he had an opportu- 
nity of taking advantage of a bitter enemy, he 
answered: "I wish not to plunder him. I wish 
not to take from him his wealth or honor or life, 
but his malice and his ill will." 

When Cnseus Cinna was found in a conspiracy 
against Augustus, the emperor of Rome, he, hav- 
ing formerly shown Cinna much kindness, was 
ready to order his execution. Livia, the wife of 
Augustus, pleaded with him to try clemency ; and 
when Cinna was invited to a conference, reminded 
of former kindnesses, and shown pardon, he be- 
came the lasting friend of Augustus, and when 
he died, made Augustus his. sole heir in token of 
his gratitude. If Romans could learn such les- 
sons, how ought we, as disciples of the blessed 
Jesus, who is conquering the world with love, 
learn to practice love toward friend and foe ! It 
will make every home a palace of joy; it will 
make every community a neighborhood of de- 
light; it will fill every church with hallowed 
rejoicing and heart gladness; it will make our 
old, bitter, thorny world a paradise; it will make 
every heart that feels the throb of love a heaven. 
Charles Aleyn wrote: 



poircr of Cope for (Enemies, 103 

Tlie line and noble way to kill a foe 
Is not to kill him. You with kindness may 

So change him that he will cease to be so; 
And then he's slain. Sigismund used to say 

His pardons put his foes to death; for when 

He mortified their hate, he killed them then." 



CHAPTER X. 

Fidelity to Conscience — Cultivation of Nearness to God — 
The Christ Ideal — Self-Control — Controlling the Tongue 
— Christian Do-Nots — Learning from the Faults of 
Others — Constant Christian Courage. 

Every true follower of Christ must be so filled 
and possessed with the truth that the heart and 
conscience are true to God, his word, and the 
spirit of Christ. We cannot follow a mere out- 
ward truth. It must be made our own, and the 
controlling power of the life must be within us. 
The word of God must be in us, and so adopted 
by us as to rule us from the heart throne. En- 
lightenment must be of the conscience and judg- 
ment, so that we are always acting from a pure 
and well formed principle and clear judgment. 

XLIV. FIDELITY TO CONSCIENCE. 

With the conscience well formed and tendered 
by the spirit of Christ, and enlightened by the 
word of God, every person learning to walk the 
Christian way should keep the life true to the 
conscience within. The laments and tortures of 
a guilty conscience are more than any man can 

104 



Culttpate Icearness to (Sob. 105 

endure. The approval of a good conscience is 
the higiiest and richest blessing God gives to 
man. Therefore he true to your conscience. In 
turning from the solicitations of doubtful practices, 
in the performance of duties, in the pursuits of 
life, constant and unflinching fidelity to a good 
conscience secures peace of heart and success of 
effort. Dr. South says: "The testimon}^ of a good 
conscience will make the comforts of heaven 
descend upon man's weary head like a refreshing 
shower upon a parched land. It will give him 
lively, earnest, and sweet anticipations of ap- 
proaching joy. It will bid his soul go out of the 
body undauntedly, and lift up his head with con- 
fidence before saints and angels." 

XLV. CULTIVATE NEARNESS TO GOD. 

In every condition of life the Christian has a 
right to expect that God will be close by his side. 
God's mercies and love and providence cover 
every possible condition in which we may be 
placed. Enoch '-walked with God," and our life 
in every relation and business must lie close to 
God. It is not enough to remember, "Thou God 
seest me"; Init we may, Avith pleasure and joy, 
cultivate a conscious nearness to Christ, where- 
ever we go, that will make life sacred and sweet, 



106 Sacreb ^ours mttf? IJoun^ (Ef^ristians. 

and free every path from fear and danger. The 

faith and affections may at all times summon 

God. He comes to those who love him. He is 

every moment at the side of that loving heart 

which cultivates this fellowship of eternal love and 

grace. 

"Thy love, O God, restores me 
From sighs and tears to praise, 
And deep my soul adores thee, 

Nor thinks of time or place. 
I ask no more, in good or ill, 
Than union with thy holy will." 

XLVI. THE CHRIST IDEAL. 

Every life should have before it some true 
ideal. It is well when this ideal is so perfect and 
real as to become a model. We may find liberal 
help from the study of the good lives of those 
about us ; but none cover the field of life per- 
fectly. There are historic characters and persons 
from which we may draw valuable hints. There 
are illustrious Bible characters, which shine and 
glow with a wondrous luster. From all of these we 
may gain inspiration, guidance, and hope. Paul 
said to the church, '* Be ye followers of me, even as 
I also am of Christ" ; and we may, and ought to, 
draw largely from those grand lives in which the 
wonders of grace were so wrought. They demon- 
strate to us what God can do in and through 



CI?e (El^rist 36caL 107 

those who are of hke passions and frailties with 
ourselves. He misses the rich heritage of the 
Christian which is for liim in Christian society, 
if he fails to derive these helps not only from the 
worthy of history, but from the devout about him 
and from those with whom he mingles day by 
day. 

Infinitely above all these are the character and 
life of Jesus as both our ideal and our model. In 
his life and character there was no wrong. He 
lived under all kinds of trials, and was subject to 
all possible hardships and privations. He was 
tenderly and lovingly followed by many friends, 
both men and women. He was constantly, crit- 
ically, and cruelly watched by maUgnant foes. 
To his friends he opened the profoundest secrets 
of his heart. To his enemies he was transparent 
as the light. And from no source has there ever 
been cast a single reproach upon the life of Jesus. 
There it stands to-day in its spirit, its deeds, its 
teaching, above all shadow of reproach, — not a 
dereliction, not an error, not a mistake. That life 
contradicted the great mass of social and religious 
customs of that day. It was the only original life 
of that day. It was the only original life ever lived 
on earth, and yet the most human; in deepest 
accord with all the noble elements and aspirations 



108 Sacxitb ^ours voxil} X^onng, df^risttans. 

of the human heart, and yet without a fault; the 
most positive of all lives, and yet without 
blemish; the pattern of all lives in all ages to 
come. 

The life of Christ had all the strength of the 
highest type of manhood. At the same time it 
had in it every touch of tenderness, sympathy, 
and love possible to the profoundest w^omanhood. 
Therefore the Christ model is the Christian's 
ideal. It may seem to us at times, or indeed 
always, beyond the possibility of human attain- 
ment, and an almost useless ambition to think of 
making Christ our pattern. When we discover 
how far below him we are and how much unlike 
him our character and hves, it may appear in 
vain to struggle toward so sublime a goal. Yet 
one of the liighest presentations and hopes of the 
life to come is that which says, "We know that 
.... we shall be like him, for we shall see him 
as he is." It is a precious inspiration that comes 
to the heart and life, as the young and struggling 
Christian looks up daily and hourly and prays 
to be made more like Christ, and then goes out in 
life seeking to conform his life to that blessed life 
of Jesus, the Son of God. 

And so each soul can find joy in those precious 
words: 



Self = Control. 109 

" Thou 
Whom soft-eyed pity once led down from heaven 
To bleed for man, to teach him how to live, 
And oh, still harder lesson, how to die." 

While the life of the Christian is, and must 
always be, positive and progressive, there is, 
especially in the life of the young follower of 
Christ, a negative side as well. The nature and 
life have been accustomed to walk in their own 
wa}^ and follow their own inclinations, and these 
will still clamor for control. 

XLVII. SELF-CONTROL. 

This is an element of life which should claim 
the closest and most faithful attention. It will 
not do to drift here and there according to im-^ 
pulses awakened now and again by influences, 
which touch us, or events and experiences which 
come to us. An army without discipline and 
order and beyond the control of the commander 
is weak, and without power either to move against 
an enemy or to resist the attack of a foe. A ship 
at sea which loses its rudder is the mightiest, and 
yet the most unwieldy, thing on the globe. The 
army has power, but it cannot be employed. 
The rudderless vessel has propelling force, but 
never can be guided to the port. Precisely so is. 



110 Sacreb ^ours voxtl} IJoung Cl^rtstians. 

it with the heart and hfe not under absolute self- 
control. The propelling force and the driving 
wind may only drive the ship farther from the 
desired harbor. 

XL VIII. CONTROLLING THE TONGUE. 

Every Christian should therefore at once, if he 
has not already done so, put the eye, the hand, 
the feet, the tongue, the heart, the affections, the 
entire life and body, under the command of the 
judgment and reason, and the word and spirit of 
God — perfect self-control. Some, because they 
have no control over the eye, are always being 
led by it into evil. Some, because they have no 
control of the affections of the heart, are driven 
like a rudderless vessel on a mad sea. Some, 
because they cannot control the tongue, are 
always placing themselves in the most unfavor- 
able attitude before their fellow men, and causing 
trouble, pain, and sorrow to others. A hint at 
the value of self-control, and a view of what is 
lost by many lives around us because of its lack, 
ought be enough to lead us all to the greatest 
care and prayer in the accomplishment of this 
great task. The good Book tells us that he that 
ruleth his own spirit is better than he that 
taketh a city. 



Cl?nsttan Do = Hots. Ill 

XLIX. CHKISTIAN DO-NOTS. 

Every man and woman should make up a 
chapter of do-nots. If we are open to the practice 
of whatever is suggested to us, we shall always be 
in doubt as to our conduct, and always easily 
liable to fall into error. The best life is noticeable 
for what it does not do, as well as for what it does. 
The world may " think it strange that ye run not 
with them to the same excess of riot, speaking 
evil of you"; but by this shunning of the things 
of evil, yea, even the appearance of evil, we shall 
show to the world a more excellent way, as well 
as build up our own character in this service of 
Christ. The story is told of an old professor 
of religion, who, in giving his experience to the 
public, said that when he was first converted he 
had great trouble with his conscience, so that it 
seemed as if he could hardly do anything on 
account of the trouble of his conscience ; but he 
had grown in grace so that he had far less trouble 
with his conscience : now he could do almost 
anything, and his conscience never troubled him. 
Too many professed Christians could relate a like 
experience ; but no man or woman can go with 
the world, and act as men of the world act, and 
grow in the Christian life and the blissful experi- 



112 Sacrcb ^ours voxil) IJoun^ (£l)risttans. 

eiice of the Christian, or maintain a Christian 
standing before the world. Have a chapter of 
do-nots in your hfe history, and let it be a good- 
sized one. 

L. LEARNING PROM THE FAULTS OF OTHERS. 

The practical demonstration of wrong in a 
human life has such ugliness as should repel 
every beholder from the commission of that 
wrong. There is a method of criticism of the 
lives and conduct of others which may be made 
of immeasurable benefit to us. It will require 
charity and wisdom, but with these, should not 
result in evil to anyone nor a feeling of evil toward 
any. Everyone is accustomed to look upon those 
about him with more or less criticism. This 
criticism is often indulged in a manner and 
degree which j^oison and prejudice us against 
our fellow men, and do not profit us. Every 
person should accustom himself to apply the 
criticisms upon others directly to himself. Upon 
observing things in the conduct of others which 
are esteemed wrong or improper or ugly, or even 
offensive to good taste, we should at once apply 
this admonition to ourselves, and put the offen- 
sive things down in our chapter of do-nots, and 
see to it alwavs thereafter that our conduct or 



donstant (£hristtan (£ourage. 113 

character is free Iroin these things. In this habit 
we should avoid applying the criticism to those 
whose faults are apparent to us. Allow them to 
carry those imperfections if they prefer, or tell 
them in love, but esteem them none the less 
because of these things; and without self-right- 
eousness, remembering our many undiscovered 
faults, we should shun those which we have dis- 
cvered in others. 

LI. CONSTANT CHRISTIAN COURAGE. 

In all these struggles of life and efforts to build 
up the noblest Christian character, the young 
Christian needs a constant courage. There are 
many who are courageous enough in times of 
revival and great spiritual quickening, but whose 
heroism dies when the season of special services 
is passed. The real courage of the Christian is 
shown when, during the long months of the year 
when there is no revival in the church, he sus- 
tains the Christian life with an unfaltering step. 
It is the glow of the Christian character that 
shines all the year. It is the heroism of the soul 
on its full march toward heaven that fills the 
church with praise and makes the land rejoice 
for the strength of its sons. A young convert 
said: "It was the faithfulness of the Christians 



114 Sacreb ^ours tpttt? IJoung (Et^rtstians. 

of this community in sustaining the church till 
God saved me through this instrumentality, that 
really made possible my salvation. My work is 
to join with them in sustaining the church 
through the years, that by it God may save 
others." 

"Courage! — the highest gift, that scorns to bend 
To mean devices for a sordid end; 
Courage! — an independent spark from heaven's bright 

throne, 
By which the soul stands raised, triumphant, high, alone." 



CHAPTER XI. 

Evil Speaking — Jealousies — Trials by Temptation — Uses 
of Temptation — Dangers in Temptation — Behavior Un- 
der Temptation. 

One of the greatest hindrances to real Chris- 
tian growth and development of character, as 
well as a great evil in society, is the failure to 
bridle the tongue. 

LII. AVOID EVIL SPEAKING. 

There is much evil in the world; but it does 
not diminish it to communicate it to others. 
The custom of evil speaking does much to injure 
society and to destroy the work of Christ in 
the world. To speak evil of another is a gross 
violation of the great law of love, and hardens 
not only the ear upon which it falls, but the 
heart from which it proceeds. To guard the 
tongue carefully against all evil utterances is 
to present to the world an example of rare 
virtue. There is an old adage, often given as 
a kind of apology for these evil utterances, " One 
might as well speak out what is in him," which 

115 



116 Sacreb ^ours voitl} 'Qounq, Cl^nsttans. 

is a foul slander on virtuous conversation. That 
we have an evil thought or an unfavorable 
opinion is not a reason, nor even an excuse, for 
placing it upon our lips and communicating it 
to others. One who wrote a long time ago 
prayed, "Set a watch, Lord, before my mouth; 
keep the door of my lips." David, in addressing 
those who would secure a long and blessed life, 
says, "Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips- 
from speaking guile." Every Christian ought 
now and again to study prayerfully the third 
chapter of the Epistle of James. 

" Think all yon speak, but speak not all you think: 

Thoughts are your own ; your words are so no more. 
Where wisdom steers, wind cannot make you sink ; 
Lips never err when she does keep the door." 

The story is told of one Pambo, an ignorant 
but honest man, who came to a learned man 
asking him to teach him some psalms. The wise 
man began and read to him the first verse of the 
thirty -ninth psalm: "I will take heed to my ways, 
that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my 
mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before 
me." Having heard this verse, Pambo shut the 
book and said, "I will go now and learn that 
point first." After an absence of many months 
he was asked by his teacher why he did not come 



again, and he replied that he had not learned his 
old lesson yet. There is a lesson here for many 
who read the word of God. 

LIII. AVOID JEALOUSIES. 

AVhere there is a true heart of love there should 
be no jealousy. Our love for ourselves often rises 
to too great a fervor to enable us to rejoice in the 
prosperity of others. Too often persons adopt 
the erroneous idea that every good or promotion 
bestowed upon another is that much taken from 
them. They cannot endure to see some friend 
rise to honor or position or esteem of others. 
Hannah More wrote: 

" O Jealousy, 
Thou ugliest fiend of hell ! thy deadly venom 
Preys on my vitals, turns the healthful hue 
Of my fresh cheek to sallowness, 
And drinks my spirits up." 

It will sometimes require a large measure of 
grace to destroy this feeling from the heart. It 
is a subtle foe, and sometimes steals into the 
heart when it is unsuspected. It imagines of 
a friend an evil which it would not dare to speak, 
and rankles in the bosom with the deadliest hate. 
No one can be happy who allows this spirit of 
jealousy to dwell for a moment in the heart. 



118 Sacub ^ours vo\i\^ T^omxk^ (Ll?nstians. 

" Through the heart 
Should jealousy its venom once diffuse, 
'T is then delightful misery no more, 
But agony unmixed, incessant gall, 
Corroding every thought, and blasting all 
Love's paradise." 

Let the heart be kept clean and pure and free 
from all these inroads of evil, so deceitful and 
dangerous and destructive to all Christian peace. 

Our life is not all day. There come seasons of 
twilight, and these are sometimes followed by 
deepest, darkest night. No one has gone far in 
the Christian way who has not learned that the 
follower of Christ is not exempt from the com- 
mon trials and sorrows of life, nor is he without 
special attacks from the enemy of the soul. 

LIV. TRIALS BY TEMPTATION. 

To every Christian there come seasons of temp- 
tation and trial, which overwhelm him in clouds of 
gloom. They are times of depression to the souL 
The history of devout men, as given in the Bible^ 
shows us that these seasons of spiritual trial come 
to the best and noblest men whose lives bless the 
pages of history. It was so with Elijah and 
Isaiah and David and many others. Depression 
of spirits and fiery trials thus happen to us. Sore 
temptations distress us. In such times Satan 



Crials by Cemptatiom 119 

asserts all his powers. Our hearts seem impotent 
to resist his assaults. God hides his face, and 
seems a great way off. 

The causes of these seasons of depression are 
sometimes well known. Failures to realize our 
desires and laudable expectations sometimes intro- 
duce us to a season of trial. Misfortunes of 
various kinds may come like the storms that 
swept down from the mountains of Gadara upon 
the vessel of the disciples in the night upon the 
Sea of Galilee. Tempests in darkness drive the 
billows over us sometimes. In these times the 
soul is tossed far beyond its power to endure. 
To these sorrows Satan adds his suggestions. 
Doubts, unbelief, distrust, repinings at God and 
his providence, all are suggested. Still we do 
well to remember that — 

"With silence only as their benediction 
God's angels come, 
« When in the shadow of a great affliction 

The soul sits dumb." 

In such times it becomes the young Christian 
especially to bear himself becomingly before God 
and his fellow men. AVe should be wise as to 
what behavior becomes us, and what advantage 
we may secure from such temptations. 



120 Sacreb ^ours vo'xil} IJoun^ (£t?rtsttans. 

LV. USES OF TEMPTATION. 

1. Temptations show us our weakest points. 
Satan, like a skillful foe, attacks our weakest 
and least fortified points of character. 

2. Temptations often furnish us a good reve- 
lation of our own hearts. 

3. Temptations place a test upon us which 
reveals our true character. 

4. Temptations incite us to greater prayer- 
fulness and diligence in the service of God. 

5. If we meet and conquer these temptations 
we shall have increased assurance of the presence, 
help, and power of our heavenly Father. 

LVI. DANGERS IN TEMPTATION. 

With these facts before us we should feel 
encouraged not to despair when temptations are 
thrust upon us, but meet them as heroes of the cross. 
Lest we should go in the way of temptation and 
expose ourselves hazardously and needlessly, we 
should remember — 

1. Thousands fall in the hour of temptation. 

2. We are liable to be assaulted when we are 
unprepared, if we toy with evil. 

3. To go in the way of temptation is to tempt 
God. 

4. One temptation is likely to lead to another. 



f 



Bet^ainor un6cr temptation. 121 

5. The safest way to conquer temptation is 
i-o keep from it entirely. 

The way into temptation is marked with vari- 
ous steps. It comes to us when we are open to 
its approach — 

1. By toying with sin. 

2. By indulging a secret love and thought 
of evil. 

3. By indulging too great confidence in our 
own strength. 

4. By passing the time in idleness. Keep 
busy and in the work of God, and Satan will 
not be able to catch up with you. 

LVII. BEHAVIOR UNDER TEMPTATION. 

In meeting all forms of temptation it becomes 
us to observe at least some of the following sug- 
gestions : 

1. Cultivate decision of character and action. 

2. Always resist evil at its first approach. 

3. Never toy with temptation on the supposi- 
tion that you may be able to compromise the 
question proposed. Let it all go. 

4. Learn to leave the devil and turn the 
beart and mind away from the subject upon 
which you are tempted. Satan will not stay at 
that point alone. 



122 Sacreb ^ours toitt? ^ourtg (Ll^risltans. 

5. Place the heart and trust on the word of 
God. Remember the promises of God to the 
tempted, and build a good hope on them. 

6. Always seek God in humble, trustful prayer. 
Remember the w^ord of God, "Blessed is the 

man that endureth temptation : for when he is 
tried, he shall receive the crow^n of life, which the 
Lord hath promised to them that love him." 
And again, " There hath no temptation taken you 
but such as is common to man: but God is faith- 
ful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above 
that ye are able; but will with the temptation 
also make a way to escape, that ye may be able 
to bear it." 

*' Give to the winds thy fears ; 

Hope, and be undismayed ; 
God hears thy sighs, and counts thy tears ; 

God shall lift up thy head. 
Through waves and clouds and storms, 

He gently clears the way ; 
Wait thou his time, so shall this night 

Soon end in joyous day." 



CHAPTER XII. 

Seasons of Affliction — Benefits of Affliction — Behavior 
Under Affliction — Constant Spiritual Growth. 

The way of the follower of Christ is not free 
from the pains w^hicli afflict others. 

LVIII. SEASONS OF AFFLICTION. 

Afflictions may befall us in our person and 
life, or in our possessions, or in the losses of 
friendships by death. Our painful experience 
tells us that w^e are liable to suffering from 
many sources. Possessions which we thought 
w^ere essential to our success in life, fly away 
from us. Those humbly and honestly and 
prayerfully sought are not realized. Often want 
comes to us, and we walk in great straits. 

Bereavement and death come unbidden to our 
homes. A father or mother, or brother or sister^ 
or loved babe lies struggling with death, and 
at last, despite our painful watchings and tears 
and cries and prayers, falls asleep in death. Home 
is desolate. The heart is crushed and finds no 
peace. The life is desolate, and we exclaim, 
" Lover and friend hast thou put far from me^ 
and mine acquaintance into darkness." 

123 



124 Sacreb ^ours tDttl? l^onng, (£(}rtsttans. 

Often our departed loved ones are our most 
precious treasures. They enter the land unseen, 
and carry our hearts with them. They never 
come back to us, and we are never ourselves 
without them. "We walk to eternity amid the 
graves of our loved ones. Grandfather's life is 
not ended in our home when he sets his staff 
aside and never uses it again. Grandmother's 
eyes do not fail to look into ours when she lays 
her glasses aside and closes her old Bible, never 
to take them down again. Father does not cease 
to stand at the head of our home when death 
cuts him down and lays him in the grave. Nay,. 
nay; his place at the table, and the family 
prayer, and in the molding choices of life, is im- 
mortal. AVe always see him there. To think of 
him otherwise breaks the heart. Mother's min- 
istry to our lives is eternal. We always see her 
in times of sickness, and feel her hand on our 
aching head; see her form bending with tender, 
tearful love over our sleepless, fevered form all 
the long night through. AVe always see her at 
the Christmas jo}^, with her great, tender, loving 
heart, filling our hands and mouth and heart 
with the season's delight. AVe always see her 
watchful, careful solicitude at our departure from 
home, and broad, tearful welcome on our return. 



Seasons of 2(fflictton. 125 

Is tlicit father ur inuthcr dead? It can hardly 
be so. Their memory is too fresh and fragrant. 
To us tliey must somehow be always living some- 
where. 

Think you that the ministry of brother and 
sister is ended when they, our daily comrades, go 
no more with us to the tasks or joys of life? 
Their touch is still on the arm. Their wistful 
look of love is still before us. Their blithe, light, 
free step, and warm, passionate words and fellow- 
ships, are still by our sides. It must be so, or we 
have lost all sweetness. 

Think you that the little place in the home 
and heart held so sweetly by the babe that died, 
grows over, or is grown into and filled by 
another ? It is not so. When once you get down 
beside the crib, father on one side and mother on 
the other, and watch those little cheeks and eyes 
and hands till the sweet angel spirit is gone, your 
life will never be the same. Ten, twenty, thirty 
years are nothing to cover over that face. There 
is many a home which seems so happy, but those 
little, wrinkled, half-worn shoes that have been 
kept all these years — ah, one sight of those little 
shoes will open the heart to its center again. 

Who has a dead loved one for a moment, has 
the same sorrow till death cuts him down. AVTiose 



126 Sacreb ^ours tPttt? IQonn^ C^nsttans. 

heart has been crushed once, never can be true to 
itself and whole again. 

We walk in a dreamland between the living 
and the dead. The flesh and love of the one 
are with us; the memory and spirit of the other 
always are about us. Amid swelling hearts of 
emotion we tread our march to eternity. Those 
sweet departed ones, we cannot give them up. 
And yet — 

"There is no flock, however watched and tended, 
But one dead lamb is there; 
There is no fireside, howsoe'er defended, 
But has one vacant chair." 

LIX. BENEFITS OF AFFLICTION. 

The young Christian should remember that 
although these afflictions are the common lot 
of men, they contain rich blessings from the 
hand of God. The psalmist said, "Before I was 
afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept 
thy word." 

" Dream not that they are blest alone 
Whose days a peaceful tenor keep. 
The anointed Son of God makes known 
A blessing for the eyes that weep." 

Of most of the afflictions of life the Master 
might well say to us, as did Jesus to his disciples 
on that last night before he died, "What I do 



Benefits of 2(ffItction. 127 

thou knowest not now, but thou shaU know 
hereafter." In times of great sorrow we must 
walk by faith. And yet it will be helpful to 
the young Christian to remember some of the 
benefits of these affiictions and sorrows. 

1 . They may lead us to sincere repentance for 
that which may have found concealment in our 
lives. Should they lead us thus to a complete 
separation from every sin, they are of great value. 

2. Afflictions may arouse us to greater dili- 
gence in Christian duty, and prompt us to 
faithfulness to God. 

3. They may deeply humble us and show to 
us our weakness and utter dependence upon God. 

4. They may often become the real tests of 
our love to God and faithfulness to his will. 

5. They may show to us how far our affections 
have been taken from this world and placed upon 
the w^orld to come. 

6. They furnish occasions for great faith, and 
hence foster rapid spiritual growth. 

7. They may show to us with great clearness 
how fleeting are all the joys and treasures of earth. 

8. They ought to deepen the sympathies and 
tender the feelings of our hearts, so that we shall 
know better how to speak to, and labor for, our 
fellow men who bear kindred sorrows. 



128 Sacreb ^ours voxtl} I?oun$ (L^xist'xans, 

9. They deepen the channels of our being, 
tender our lives, show us the need of the comfort 
Jesus only can give us, and often transfer our 
affections from this world to the life to come. 

10. They often show us God in new rela- 
tions of love, and reveal his deeper purposes of 
grace and providence, and prepare the way for 
his coming to our hearts in greater preciousness. 

11. They render more sacred and precious 
to us the friendships and loves of earth, causing 
us to hold them as for the heavenly world. 

"God presses me hard, but he gives patience too; 
And I say to myself, ' 'T is no more than my due, 
And no tone from the organ can swell on the breeze, 
Till the organist's fingers press down on the keys.' 

"So come, then, and welcome, the blow and the pain; 
Without them no mortal can heaven attain: 
For what can the sheaves on the barn Hoor avail, 
Till the thresher shall beat out the chaff with his flail?'* 

Whoever is touched by affliction feels the hand 
of God. "Affliction cometh not forth of the dust, 
neither doth trouble spring out of the ground." 

LX. BEHAVIOR UNDER AFFLICTION. 

While afflictions come to all men, they are to 
the Christian the special messengers of God. He 
says, " I have chosen thee in the furnace of afflic- 
tion." Every sincere follower of Christ should 



Bel^artor Unbcr ^Xffliction. 129 

strive earnestly at all times to live so that the 
blessings which God would bring him in an 
affliction may not be disowned. These afflictions 
are not of themselves capable of insuring us good. 
There are not a few who, in times of bereavement 
and sorrow, murmur and go away from God 
rather than draw more closely to him. Besides 
this, we should bear fruit to the honor of Christ 
in those seasons of shadow. Those about us look 
to us in hours of affliction and sorrow to know 
how religion sustains in that case. Many of the 
Lord's dear children have borne testimony to his 
love and grace and power in these midnight 
sorrows that won others to love and trust in 
Jesus. The fragrance of the loving and bruised 
heart in the chamber of sorrow and death has 
often so fallen on others that their lives have 
been transplanted into the garden of God's love. 
And so it is that often — 

" Affliction is the good man's shining scene; 
Prosperity conceals his brightest ray; 
As night to stars, woe luster gives to man." 

In our behavior under the chastenings of the 
Lord we may be helped by observing the following 
suggestions : 

1. Cultivate true patience in hours of affliction. 

2. Avoid fretfulness and complaining. 



130 Sacreb ^ours vo'xtl} X^onng, Cl^risttans. 

3. Bow down in deep humility before the Lord. 

4. Behold the hand of God in all these afflic- 
tions, and remember that he is with 3^ou. 

5. Meditate upon the goodness of God. 

6. Learn what he teaches in the blessed Bible. 
In the Holy Bible God has sown light for the 
afflicted. "For our light affliction, which is but 
for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceed- 
ing and eternal weight of glory." 

7 . Compare the present affliction with the glory 
that is to be revealed in you in the life to come. 

8. Turn to God and his word and his love for 
comfort and deliverance. 

9. Remember the afflictions and sufferings of 

Jesus, and how he bore all uncomplainingly for 

you, and "for the joy that was set before him 

endured the cross." 

"In the dark winter of affliction's hour, 

When summer friends and pleasures haste away, 
And the wrecked heart perceives how frail each power 

It made a refuge and believed a stay; 
When man all wild and weak is seen to be, — 
There's none like thee, O Lord! there's none like thee." 

LXI. CONSTANT SPIRITUAL GROWTH. 

The Christian experience is a real life. It is 
the soul and mind and heart all set upward, 
onward, homeward, heavenward. We should 
each day expect to enlarge our experience, 



Constant Spiritual ^towtl), 131 

deepen our conviction of duty, awaken new and 
higher aspirations, record some deeds of love to 
our fellow men and some service rendered to the 
cause of Christ. If our duties are the same each 
day, they should be performed better each day. 
Our life at the beginning is small and imperfect, 
and our knowledge and experience limited; but 
our talents must be imj^roved, and our pound be 
made to gain other pounds. Old prejudices and 
opinions are to be laid aside under the new 
dominion of grace; new loves are to grow up in 
the soul. It is the growing heart and life that 
truly live. AVe are admonished of God to grow 
in grace and in the knowledge of the truth as it is 
in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

There will come times in the experience of 
the young Christian when he will need to fall 
before the Lord and seek a new cleansing of 
the heart and the life. In these seasons of 
greater spiritual awakening the heart will lay 
hold of God in new power and love. Grace 
w^ill go through the soul in all its avenues, and 
make new conquests there. New joys will spring- 
up in the heart, and ncAV pleasures in the Chris- 
tian life, so that the heart may sing, 

"Jesus all the day long 
Is my joy and my song." 



132 Sacreb ^ours voxil) ^oung (£{?nsttan$. 

These triumphs of grace will fit \is for contin- 
ued, enlarged, and daily growth. How shall we 
know that w^e are advancing in the strength of 
grace, and what 'may we rely upon as evidence 
of growth in grace? Some of the following 
indications may be suggestive: 

1. Increasing distaste to all sin. 

2. Greater love for our fellow men. 

3. Power to resist temptation. 

4. Enlarged knowledge of the word of God 
and quickening spiritual discernment. 

5. Patience in tribulation. 

6. Increased delight in the reading and study 
of the word of God. 

7. Growing love of God's house, with all the 
means of grace. 

8. Real pleasure in the performance of Chris- 
tian duty, because done for Jesus' sake. 

9. Pleasure in the fellowship of the pious. 

10. Delight in contemplation of, and medita- 
tion upon, the love of God, the character of God^ 
the grace of Jesus Christ, and the future home of 
the soul. 

" Make us, by thy transforming grace, 
Dear Savior, more like thee! 
Thy fair example may we trace, 
To teach us what we ought to be." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Discipline of the Church — Church Work — Count Nothing 
a Sacrifice — Seh'-Denial — Support of the Pastor, 

The church and its fellowship brings to young 
Christians great helps. 

LXII. DISCIPLINE OF THE CHURCH. 

It most heartily becomes every member of the 
church to make himself thoroughly familiar with 
the doctrines, teaching, practices, work, and disci- 
pline of the church with which he is connected. 
Every member should have a copy of the rules 
and discipline of his church. These rules are 
prepared with great care and by wise men, and 
are the result of long experience in the conduct 
of the church; and while they are of great 
advantage to the church, they are of much profit 
to the individual. It is a shame, and surely 
much to the discredit of any, to be ignorant 
of the rules and customs and requirements of 
the church which is our spiritual home. An 
army is strong just as it- is in perfect order and 
under the discipline of the commander, and a 

133 



134 Sacreb ^ours voxil) IJoung (El^rtsttans. 

soldier is serviceable in the army just as he 
keeps his place in the ranks. So with the 
Christian; while he is not narrowly sectarian 
and prejudiced against others, but filled with 
love for all, he is strong as he gives himself 
heartily and systematically to the life required 
by his spiritual counselors. 

LXIII. CHURCH WORK. 

"God be praised, that the dead have left still 
Good undone for the living to do — 
Still some aim for the heart and the will 
A.nd the soul of man to pursue." 

A devout man once said: "When I get to 
heaven, I shall see three wonders. The first will 
be to see there many people whom I did not 
expect to see. Second, to miss many people 
whom I had expected to see. The third and 
greatest wonder of all will be to find myself 
there." To this some one has appended this 
thought: "I have seen three wonders in this 
world. First, I have seen men of great wealth 
and good talent and with many opportunities of 
forwarding the cause of God, do nothing. Sec- 
ond, I have seen many humble and despised 
individuals, whose hearts were right with God, 
do wonders. The third and greatest of all is to 
find that one so unworthy and humble as I, 



(£I)urcI) Wort 135 

should have at all been of service in the work of 
Christ." 

Every person coming into the church of Christ 
comes there to work for the Master. The church 
is not a mere hospital, where we are to be nursed, 
but a vineyard, where all are to find employment. 
The church is not a hive of drones, but a hive of 
busy workers. The work of the church is well 
understood in all its claims. It has two forms. 
The first has respect to the maintenance of the 
church in all its material and organic interests ; 
in this department we contribute our efforts to 
sustain the church with which we are connected. 
The other is personal and direct work for the sal- 
vation of those who are away from Christ. In 
both of these departments of endeavor every 
young Christian should early take his or her 
place. To be a true worker in the church is 
essential to happiness, religious growth, and use- 
fulness. Too many, alas! come into the church 
only to have a shelter and to find ease for their 
consciences. It is related of a prominent pastor in 
an Eastern city that a gentleman called at his 
study and informed him that he and his wife and 
daughter wished to connect themselves with his 
church. The minister asked to what depart- 
ment of the work of the church they wished 



136 Sacreb ^ours tr)tt{? IJoung (Llfvxsixans. 

most to be given. The gentleman responded 
that they did not wish to be assigned to duty, but 
simply wanted to join the church. The minister 
said: "You have come to the wrong church. 
There is a church on another street called ' The 
Church of the Heavenly Rest.' You wish to join 
that church." How many want the church of 
the " heavenly rest." In the regular iJ'ork of the 
church and in sustaining the church, these facts 
should be remembered: 

1. Everyone ought to have something to do. 

2. The duties of the church should take the 
precedence of other business. 

3. Every assignment of the church should be 
accepted as the appointment of God, and its duty 
performed as in the loving fear of God. 

4. The member of the church that does not in 
some way help, even though it be in a feeble 
degree, in the work of the church should count 
his or her Christian life a failure, and begin anew 
the blessed service. The church services and soci- 
eties and Sunday schools and care for the poor, all 
furnish abundant fields for contributions and effort. 

It should also be the aim of every young 
Christian to cooperate heartily with the pastor in 
leading to Christ those who have not given their 
hearts to God. 



(Eount Hott^tng a Sacrifice. 137 

1. Every Christian should strive to help in 
bringing at least one soul to Christ each year. 
This is, indeed, the smallest service that one who 
loves Jesus ought to think of doing. 

2. Everyone stands in peculiar relation to 
some one which none other sustains, and this 
places upon that one the great responsibility of 
making that relation a blessing. 

3. The good work may be carried on by invit- 
ing persons to the house of God. 

4. It may be promoted by a kind and tender 
w^ord fitly spoken. 

5. Everyone should separately and frequently 
pray specially for those of his acquaintance 
who are unsaved. 

6. There is no joy on earth like the joy of 
leading a soul lost in sin back to Jesus, the Savior 
of sinners. Dr. Cuyler says: "A working Chris- 
tian man can never be wretched. He gathers his 
sheaves as he goes." 

Every Christian should early learn in all its 
fullness the great truth that his life belongs to 
God. 

LXIV. COUNT NOTHING A SACEIFICE. 

We place too large an estimate upon what we 
do for Christ and his cause. We forget what 
Jesus did and does for us. 



138 Saatb ^ours voxti) IJoung <Ll}vxsi\ans, 

"The highest benedictions hide 

Where sacrifice is pure and true ; 
And our poor self-denials, too, 
If done for Christ, in him abide." 



Whatever we may do for Christ we cannot 
strictly think of as a sacrifice, because all is due 
to Christ for his tender and far-reaching love. 
" The love of Christ constraineth us." It is a 
great joy in the Christian life to acknowledge thus 
the debt to Christ, and constantly live under it. 
It is a debt of love, the sweetest our hearts or 
lives can ever jiay. Xot cold duty, not heart- 
breaking sacrifice, but it is the service of love 
tliat has filled our hearts and lives, and wrought 
in us the blessed return of love. Jesus said to 
his disciples, when the mission of his life was 
ended and the service of the cross only waited to 
be paid, " I am among you as he that serveth." 
Who that once looks at that service of Christ can 
ever after call what he does for Jesus sacrifice? 
Rather does the soul find sweetness in the song: 

" Oh, blessed work for Jesus ! 
Oh, rest at Jesus' feet! 
There toil seems pleasure, 
My wants are treasure, 

And pain for him is sweet. 
Lord, if I may, 
I'll serve another day." 



Self^DentaL 139 

Lxv. self-dp:nial. 

We are often too dear to ourselves. Our own 

interests, as we understand them, come first to 

hand. We aim too largely to live for ourselves. 

We want our own way. But God's way is right 

and straight. Our ways are crooked, and do not 

lie parallel with his. Our supposed interests are 

not our real interests. Self is not only narrow 

and ignorant, but sinful. Jesus said that one 

who would be his disciple must "deny himself, 

and take up his cross, and follow " him. He who 

follows his own ways walks in a circle, a narrow 

one, always returning to the place of his starting. 

He who denies himself and accepts the will of 

God, ascends toward heaven at every step, and 

makes a straight line to eternal life. And so he 

sings : 

"Jesus, I my cross have taken, 
All to leave and follow thee; 
Naked, poor, despised, forsaken, 
Thou from hence my all shall be." 

There are just two steps in religion: the 
first is out of self; the second is into Christ. 
They must be taken in their true order. The 
spirit of self-denial is essential to the possession 
of a deep and satisfactory experience in the love 
and fellowship of Christ. It is also essential 



140 Sacreb ^ours ipitl? ^oung dt^ristians. 

to the pleasing discharge of the duties which 
belong to us in the church of Christ. 

LXVI. SUPPORT OF THE PASTOR. 

In the tedious battle of Israel with a mighty 
foe, the army of Israel prevailed when Moses' 
hands were upheld. When his hands were 
weary and his arms were faint, Aaron and 
Hur held up his hands, until the armies of 
Israel prevailed at the close of the day and 
worked the discomfiture of the mighty foe of Israel. 
Victory is on the Lord's side to-day when the 
hands (symbols of power) of the minister of 
Christ are held up. The opportunity of every 
Christian is in holding up the hands of the 
preacher of Christ's blessed gospel. This is done 
by two methods : 

First. Personal cooperation. This implies 
our hearty appreciation of the work he seeks to 
perform for the church and the souls of the people, 
our deep sympathy with that work, our prayers 
for the success of the work and the worker, our 
assistance in the work wherever we can render 
efficient service; speaking kindly and only favor- 
ably of the preacher and his work to others; 
speaking kindly and encouragingly to the pastor. 
We cannot fully know the burden and responsi- 



Support of tl)e Pastor. 141 

bility he carries, but we can greatly lighten and 
help in the bearing by kind words, faithful deeds^ 
and tender sympathy. 

Second. It embraces his financial support. 
Perhaps one-half of the members of the church 
pay little or absolutely nothing to the support of 
the preacher who delivers to them the words of 
life. No Christian can maintain a worthy, intel- 
ligent, and useful connection with the church 
without supporting the gospel as j) reached. The 
aid given is not to the church alone, nor to 
the preacher, — these are low elements, — but to 
the Lord himself, who has appointed this method 
of proclaiming the story of his love and death 
for man, and has ordained that they who preach 
the gospel shall live of the gospel. In the sup- 
port of the gospel it is well to observe rules like 
the following: 

1. Give cheerfully. 

2. Give early in the year. 

3. Give often — weekly, if possible. 

4. Give as liberally as you can. 

5. Accompany what you give with the bless- 
ing of prayer. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The Cause of Missions— The Great Responsibility— Intel- 
lectual Growth. 

Every Christian must feel a deep interest in 
the work of Jesus Christ in the world. The cause 
of Christ in the world is that for which he died. 
It is the current of grace to man which began to 
flow from the Savior's wounded side on Calvary. 

LXVII. THE CAUSE OF MISSIONS. 

There are organized in the church various 
societies and agencies bearing on different de- 
partments of the work of the church, but all 
tending to increase the power of the church in 
carrying the gospel to those who have it not. 
To all these the young Christian should early 
attach his sympathy and give full support. The 
result is twofold, nor. is the least the blessing 
which comes to the heart. A glance at the 
great work of missions should be sufficient to 
enlist all in the cause of Christ. The amount 
of work put to the responsibility of the church 
surpasses present computing. Hundreds of mil- 
lions of the race are living in abject heathenism, 

142 



Cl^e Cause of IlTtssions. 143 

without clothing or any form of education. These 
know only the lower forms of brute life. Hun- 
dreds of millions who are above this low brute 
level in physical life are in utter spiritual dark- 
ness, having never by the wisdom of man found 
out God. 

To the church God has committed the awful 
responsibility of preaching the gospel of Christ. 
As in the Old Testament times God employed 
centuries and ages preparing the world for the 
coming of Christ, and preparing a religion which 
could give the world a Christ; so has God 
employed eighteen centuries preparing the w^orld 
and preparing the Christian church for the wide- 
spread publication of eternal salvation for the 
world through Jesus Christ. 

Just now^ in this age in which we live, God 
has thrown the doors of all nations open to the 
missionary and teacher and preacher of Christ, 
the Lamb of God. Just now the church is 
organized as never before so as to employ every 
variety of capability and talent in accomplishing 
this great mission. 

This day is auspicious. The watchmen an- 
swer back, "The morning cometh." From India, 
China, Japan, from dark Africa, from the islands 
of the sea, the watchmen answer us, "The morn- 



144 Sacreb incurs xoxil} IJoung Cl^ristians. 

ing Cometh." As Christ came in the fulhiess 
of time, so may we even now expect that the 
world will sit at his feet. AVhole tribes and 
nations are weighed down with their darkness. 
They wait for the light. A dying convert from 
heathenism, as she thought of the millions who 
had not yet heard of Jesus, said to her attend- 
ant minister, "Can't you tell the Christians to- 
send the gospel out here a little faster?" 

God has recently wrought great things in the 
Christian world. Fifty years ago there were 
50,000 Christians in heathen lands; now there 
are not less than 3,000,000. Then the Bible was 
read in only 50 languages, but now in 300, while 
150,000,000 Bibles are in circulation in heathen 
lands. In 1819 Judson baptized the first con- 
verts in Burmah; now there are 28,000 com- 
municants and 200,000 adherents in that country. 
Thirty years ago there were 14,000 communicants 
in India; now there are 114,000, while Dr. 
Pierson thinks there are not less than 600,000 
nominal Christians in the entire empire. In 
Madras, ten years ago there were 161,000 adher- 
ents to Christianity; now there are 300,000. 
Imperial Rome governed only 120,000,000, ac- 
cording to Gibbon; but Christian nations to-day 
govern 650,000,000. 



^l)e Cause of Znissions. 145 

In America the spread of the gospel has been 
wonderful. In 1800 the population of the United 
States was 5,000,000, and the communicants of 
churches 364,000, or one to every fifteen of the 
population. In 1890, with a population of 64,- 
000,000, the communicants of the Protestant 
churches numbered nearly 20,000,000, or one to 
less than every four of the population. 

And yet it is a lamentable fact that this 
work has been carried on by the few of the 
Christian church. Comparatively few men are 
in the mission field; the large majority, three 
to one, are women. A few of the members 
of the church contribute the money. The 
Missionary Record publishes the results of a 
collection for missions, as follows: "A collec- 
tion for missions was taken up at a meeting of 
six hundred persons. The result was two dol- 
lars, one half dollar, seventeen quarters, twenty- 
seven dimes, sixty-six half dimes, eleven three- 
cent pieces, three two-cent pieces, and two 
hundred and eighty-eight pennies, making a 
total of $16.02, or less than three cents each. 
Two hundred or more gave nothing." 

Unfavorably as this may seem to present the 
case, it is doubtless too flattering to be taken as 
a fair general example. The great body of 

10 



146 Sacreb ^ours voxtl} IJoung (Ll}vxstxans. 

church members give absolutely nothing — not 
even a penny — for the extension of Christ's 
kingdom in foreign fields and for the salva- 
tion of the millions for whom Christ died. Still 
they hope to be saved and to appear faultless 
before the presence of his glory. How can we? 

There is awful earnestness and meaning in this 
work. Hundreds of men and women are ready 
to go to the ends of the earth to preach the 
gospel. They do not offer themselves, because 
there is no money to send them. 

This view of the work to be done, and the 
success attending the efforts already made by 
the church, ought to enlist every heart to do its 
utmost for the spread of the gospel of Christ. In 
this several things are important: 

1. Use all possible means to become thor- 
oughly informed as to the mission work of all 
the churches in all parts of the heathen world. 

2. Seek connection in some way with some 
society of the church which is organized for 
missionary work. 

3. Remember that those who are in the far-off 
mission field are from the best educated, most 
refined, and most devout people of Christendom. 
It has been the privilege of the writer to meet a 
number of these missionaries in Asia and Egypt 



3ntellectual ®rou?tl?. 147 

and other countries, and no more refined and 
noble women and men are to be found on tlie 
globe. 

4. Make it a custom to contribute frequently 
to some of the departments of the church's 
missionary work. 

5. Do not omit to pray for the spread of 
the gospel, and for those who are employed in 
those foreign fields, that God may give them 
life and success in the work. The motto of a 
woman's missionary society that has surprised 
the church in which it is organized with the 
fruits of its work is, "Two pennies a week and 
a prayer." 

6. Your hearty participation in this work 
of Christ will enlarge the vision, warmth, and 
comfort of your own heart, and give you a con- 
sciousness of a oneness of purpose with Christ, 
even if you can do but little. 

"Go to men in darkness sleeping, 
Tell that Christ is strong to save; 
Go to men in bondage weeping, 
Publish freedom to the slave; 

Tell the dying 
Christ has triumphed o'er the grave." 

LXVIII. INTELLECTUAL GROWTH. 

"Wisdom and goodness are twin-born; one heart 
Must hold both sisters, never seen apart." 



148 Sacreb flours voxil) IJoung Cf^nslians. 

Every Christian owes it to himself, to his 
church, to society, and to the cause of God, to 
make the best and most of his Hfe. Ignorance 
itself leaves us easily subject to prejudices and 
many opinions, and denies us the richer inherit- 
ance which true, godlike knowledge bestows 
on its possessor. He who grows in grace must 
also grow in knowledge. Each day should 
count some new acquisition of knowledge. The 
employment of leisure moments — only a few 
each day — in careful reading and study will 
secure mental improvement which will enrich 
life a thousandfold. Fight ignorance in yourself 
with all possible power, and invite knowledge as 
your guest always. Ignorance is next to sin, and 
often leads to the greatest of sins. " With all thy 
getting get understanding." " She is more precious 
than rubies." 

"Wisdom divine! Who tells the price 
Of Wisdom's costly merchandise? 
Wisdom to silver we prefer, 
And gold is dross compared to her. 

"To purest joys she all invites — 
Chaste, holy, spiritual delights; 
Her ways are ways of pleasantness, 
And all her flowery paths are peace.'* 



CHAPTER XV. 

Religious Reading — Doubtful Practices — Novel-Reading— 
Evil Associations — The Theater — Rules of Life. 

Good books are among the fondest friends 
of man. The companionship of the spirit and 
thought of the good who have written noble 
books, is a heritage of priceless value. 

LXIX. RELIGIOUS READING. 

Reading is mental exercise. Virtue and intel- 
ligence are promoted. The mind that loves 
good books is always lofty and noble in its 
opinions. The principles of knowledge and the 
great systems of truth have been put into books. 
There you touch great thoughts which have 
made the world what it is. 

"Studious let me sit 
And hold high converse with the mighty dead." 

Good books are the embalmed thoughts of holy 
men and women. They are food for the hungry 
and often medicine for the weary and sick. They 
do mighty thinking for us when and where we 
have no power to think. Our reading molds our 
character far more than any are aware. It opens 

149 



150 Sacreb ^ours wxt^ ^oun^ (Lf^rtsttans. 

delights to the soul which are full of profit and 
pleasure. That the best results may be attained 
in this investigation by the Christian, it is of the 
utmost importance that constant habits of religious 
reading be formed and maintained. Beware of 
mere secular knowledge. A knowledge of the 
sciences, of history, of literature in all its phases, 
and of philosophy, will leave you unhappy and 
without food for the soul, unless devout and 
religious thoughts possess the mind and pious 
meditations occupy the spare moments of life. 

Those facts which come purely within the 
range of religious books are the mightiest and 
farthest-reaching of all in the whole universe. 
No thoughts are so sublime and elevating to 
heart and life as those in the realm of religion, 
and no pleasures are to be compared in their 
permanence and blessed influence upon the life 
with those which come from a broad understand- 
ing and experience of the truths of Christianity. 
The money expended for a good book is well 
invested. The time employed in gaining reli- 
gious knowledge is saved and stored up for the 
years to come and for eternity. Always have 
some religious book at hand, and read it at 
each spare moment. The practice will enrich 
you, in the years to come, beyond all expecta- 



Doubtful practices. 151 

tions, and always furiiish subjects of pleasant 
and profitable meditation, as well as keep Satan 
and evil influences from the mind and heart. 
The absence of such a custom has left the door 
open in thousands of hearts, — the door of idle- 
ness of mind, — and Satan has entered with his 
train of temptations and sorrows. Good books 
are royal companions. Cultivate their acquaint- 
ance. 

LXX. DOUBTFUL PRACTICES. 

Every Christian finds himself confronted wdth 
tliree classes of practices in life: 

1. There is the acknowledged good, to which 
all give their assent, even if they do not practice 
the right. To these things the Christian devotes 
his heart and life. 

2. There are those things which are acknowl- 
edged by all as wrong, sinful against God, evil to 
society or to the individual. With these things 
the Christian has no trouble, for from them he 
turns away with all his heart. 

3. There are those things which are doubtful. 
There are reasons for them and apparently against 
them. They seem mixed, being partly good and 
partly bad, or possibly good and possibly bad. 
What makes the trouble greater in respect to 
these in man}^ cases, is the fact that good people 



152 Sacreb ^ours voxtl} ^oung (£l?rtsttans. 

indulge in these doubtful things. Perhaps many 
good people condemn these things and shun 
them and oppose them, while others, recognized 
as good people, allow and indulge these same 
things with apparent complacency. 

Almost every young Christian confronts early 
in the Christian life questions of this kind. A 
sensitive conscience warns, but the liberty taken 
by others seems to suggest indulgence. In these 
circumstances the young Christian asks: "What 
am I to do here? Friends and companions and 
worldly pleasures and business interests invite me 
to these things. Good people walk in them. 
Still, I am in doubt about them. What shall I 
do?" In such circumstances several rules and 
principles would be very helpful: 

1. Learn to catalogue all these things, and put 
them in classes. Investigate closely to ascertain 
whether they belong to a life of godliness or to a 
life of worldly pleasure. 

2. Ascertain whether they minister to the 
strengthening of the Christian character or to 
mere sensual and worldly gratification. 

3. Put a close test upon the object and pur- 
pose of the matter in question, and be sure as to 
that point. 

4. Run no risk against tendencies. You may 



indulge the pmctiee or enjoy the amusement 
for a time without apparent evil to you, as 
others seem to do ; but if you are convinced that 
the tendency and current of the thing is not good, 
be assured it is evil, and to indulge is to place 
yourself on a gentle but certain course downward. 

5. Virtue can always give a good reason for 
itself. Evil loves to conceal itself under fair forms 
and flattering pretenses of pleasure and worldly 
good. The doubtful is a strong evidence against 
itself. 

6. Unless a practice or proposed action can be 
shown to be clearly right, it is always safe to set 
it down as absolutely wrong, 

"Uncertain ways unsafest are, 
And doubt a greater mischief than despair." 

7. That which is thus doubtful could at best 
be of but little profit. 

8. If after the final tests have been applied, 
the matter is still held in Christian thought as 
doubtful, it is to be shunned by all Christians, no 
matter how flattering to the flesh or pride of life. 
Shun the doubtful. 

LXXI. NOVEL -READING. 

Our age is busy with fiction. This element 
finds its first expression in literature, and then 



154 Sacreb Ijours voxil) X^onng, (Ef^nsttans. 

in life and conduct. It is one of the curses of 
our times. Light and trashy reading is to be 
condemned. 

A large portion of the books now being pub- 
lished are novels — the mere production of fancy 
and distorted imagination. There may be and 
are a few books written in the form of fiction 
which are worthy the place they have won in 
public esteem ; but as for the average novel of the 
period, it is a curse to society, and one of the 
mightiest of our times. Goldsmith, himself a 
novel-writer, said : " Above all, never let your son 
touch a novel or a romance. They teach the 
youthful mind to sigh after beauty and happiness 
that never existed, — to despise the little good that 
fortune has mixed in our cup, by expecting more 
than she ever gave." We have at hand a letter 
from a Christian lady who was a victim of novel- 
reading in early life, and who says, "I oflPer you 
these facts in my experience because they may 
keep some from falling into a trap which caught 
me, but from which grace has set me free." Says 
she, "I know from observation and by sad exper- 
ience that the novel of the day is not fit to read," 
and gives the following reasons : 

1. Many of them are profane, and handle the 
name of God irreverently. 



HopcI^Heabing. 155 

2. Many of these novels are immoral in tone 
and language and thought. 

3. They tend to destroy in a woman true love 
for her husband by drawing her mind and heart 
away from the real to that which is so glowingly 
presented. 

4. They tend to diminish true love for chil- 
dren, and unfit a mother for her real duties in 
life. 

5. They lead to much dissatisfaction with the 
circumstances and conditions of life by their 
extravagant pictures of opulence and wealth. 

6. They lead to the love of the unreal more 
than the real. 

7. They cultivate jealousy by leading out the 
mind in sympathy with one character against 
another. 

8. They cultivate hatred and anger in the 
same manner. 

9. They consume much precious time that 
should be better employed. 

10. They destroy a taste for good and useful 
reading, so that the Bible and good books are laid 
aside as too dry for satisfactory reading. 

We believe these objections are all Avell founded, 
and might be increased in number many times. 



156 Sacxtb ^ours tPttl? ^oung Ct^risttans. 

" A novel was a book 
Three-volumed, and once read, and oft crammed full 
Of poisonous error blackening every page, 
And oftener still of trifling, second-hand 
Remark, and old, deceased, putrid thought, 
And miserable incidents of war. 
With nature, with itself, and truth at war ; 
Yet charming still the greedy reader on, 
Till, done, he tried to recollect his thoughts, 
And nothing found but dreaming emptiness." 

LXXII. EVIL ASSOCIATIONS. 

One of the greatest dangers to a young Chris- 
tian is found in evil companionships and associa- 
tions. Not that he will enter into associations 
for evil purposes, for this could not be possible to 
a Christian life; but the natural and easily formed 
acquaintanceship and association of unconverted 
persons is a great danger to anyone. Scarcely 
anything else so powerfully affects us as our asso- 
ciations in life. In very many cases they may 
be said to influence and form the character. 
Good associations elevate the soul and life. It is 
said of Lord Peterborough that when he lodged 
for a time with the archbishop of Canterbury, he 
upon leaving exclaimed, "If I stay here longer 
I shall become a Christian in spite of myself." If 
you constantly walk with a man who limps, you 
will yourself learn to limp. If you go into the 
mill, you will be whitened by the flour and meal, 



and into the shop, you will be sprinkled with dust^ 
and "a companion of fools shall be destroyed." 
It is hard to live among men and walk with 
men, and not become like tliem. It is no more 
safe to breathe poison than to be a companion 
of the wicked. 

Many of the secret societies of the country are 
exceedingly dangerous to Christian character 
from the fact that they bring their members into 
association and fellowship with wicked persons, 
and destroy the love for the companionship of 
the pious. Wherever this is the case Christians, 
should carefully avoid all such connections, and 
walk with God, seeking companionship of the 
good in society and in all business relations as 
far as is possible in a world of sin. 

LXXIII. THE THEATER. 

Along with the theater may be placed card 
playing, dancing, and other worldly practices. 
Every Christian who desires to grow in grace 
and to maintain a good influence in society, 
should shun all these. The w^riter has never 
known a spiritual Christian who danced. He 
has never met a preacher or pastor who recom- 
mended a dancer as an example of piety. Some 
one asked an eminent American divine if a 



158 Sacreb ^ours u>tt(} IJoung Cl^rtstians. 

person could be a Christian and dance. He 
answered that a Christian would not want to 
dance. The same may be said of the various 
forms of worldly amusement, such as the skating- 
rink and like devices of the flesh and the world 
and Satan. The tendency of the theater is evil, 
only evil, and evil continually. 

"The theater was from the very first 
A favorite haunt of sin, though honest men — 
Some very honest, wise, and worthy men — 
Maintained it might be turned to good account. 
And so, perhaps, it might, but never was; 
From first to last it was an evil place." 

If you are in doubt as to the character of the 
actors and actresses, as to the plays, and as 
to the practical results of the theater, procure 
some treatise upon the subject and study the 
whole matter well, and you will reject it with 
abhorrence. Sensuality and drunkenness go 
hand in hand with the theater. It becomes the 
follower of Christ to shun all such things with 
all love for Christ and all hatred for evil. 

"Shun evil companions; 
Dark passions subdue; 
Look ever to Jesus; 

He'll carry you through." 

Here are a few rules covering the range of 
Christian life, which are worthy of careful atten- 



^ules of £ife. 159 

tioii. They- were prepared by a pastor for the 
benefit of his flock : 

"Beheviiig that I liave been bought with the 
precious blood of Christ, and that I am therefore 
not my own, I do hereby solemnly agree, as God 
shall help me, — 

"1. To observe regular seasons of secret 
prayer, at least in the morning and evening of 
each day. 

''2. To read daily a small portion at least of 
the Bible. 

"3. To attend at least one prayer meeting 
every week, if possible to get there. 

"4. To stand up for Jesus always and every- 
where. 

"5. To try to lead at least one soul to Christ 
each year. 

"6. To engage in no amusement where my 
Savior would not be a guest. 

"7. As far as in me lieth, to do as my Savior 
would do in my circumstances. 

"8. To keep company with none who are 
vulgar or profane, or who scoff at religion or 
the Bible 

"9. To observe carefully all the rules of my 
church. 

"10. To be present at the public Sunday 



160 Sacrcb ^ours wxtl} ^oun^ Cl^nstians. 

services in my church, unless providentially 
hindered. 

" 11. To pay a suitable portion of my means 
to the support of my church. 

"12. To use no tobacco in any form. 

"13. To use no intoxicating liquors, except 
when prescribed by a physician, or for mechan- 
ical purposes. 

" 14. To abstain from everything on the Sab- 
bath day contrary to the Bible, or that will in 
any way detract from its sacredness. 

"15. To observe a reverent and becoming 
demeanor from the time I enter God's house 
until I leave.'* 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Thoughts of Death— Our Encouragement — Christ at Beth- 
any. 

The pilgrimage of life will not be long, at the 
most. Our home is in the land beyond. This 
is not our resting place. 

LXXIV. THOUGHTS OF DEATH. 

Some one has said, " Familiar thoughts smooth 
the road to death." If we would die easy and 
well, we do well to come to death b}" daily medi- 
tation. So great an event should not be omitted 
from our best thoughts. It is no evidence of 
moroseness and melancholy that we remember 
our mortality. ^'I have been dying for years," 
said one; "now I shall begin to live." 

"One sweetly solemn thought 
Comes to me o'er and o'er — 
I'm nearer my home to-day 
Than ever I've been before." 

Avoid gloomy views of death. Too often we 
think of dying as going away from all that is 
lovely and dear and blessed, as going out into 
some vast darkness where there is no light. We 

11 161 



162 Sacreb ^ours xoxih IJoun^ (EE^nsttans. 

seem to think that it is to go away from all our 
loved ones and all that is dear, and away from 
ourselves. It is not so. To die is to go home. 
It is to enter the fellowship of the good we knew 
and loved who have passed before us, and ten 
thousand holy ones of wdioni we have known 
but whom we never met on earth. To die is not 
to go away from our loved ones, but to them. 
It is not going away from home, but going home. 
It is to be with Christ. After the battle of Bull 
Run a soldier was carried from the field to the 
hospital after lying on the field three days. It 
w^as too late. Colonel Eice broke the tidings to 
him: "Sergeant, we are going to halt soon; we 
shall not march much farther to-day." "Are 
we to halt so soon?" "Yes; the march is almost 
over; the bugle will soon sound the halt." The 
answer from the dying man came, "AVell, I am 
glad," — for he had caught the meaning of the 
words, — "I want to rest. The march has been so 
long. I am very weary. I want to halt. I 
want to be with Christ. I want to be with my 
Savior." And so he fell asleep in Jesus. 

It is said that a lady once asked ^Ir. Wesley 
how he would spend the time if he knew he was 
to die to-morrow night at twelve o'clock. He 
replied: "I should preach this evening at 



Ct?ougl)ts of Deati?, 163 

Gloucester, and again at five to-morrow morning. 
After that I should ride to Tewkesbury, preach 
in the afternoon, and meet the societies in the 
evening. I should then repair to friend Martin's 
house, who expects to entertain me, converse and 
pray with the family as usual, retire to my room 
at ten o'clock, commend myself to my heavenly 
Father, lie down to rest, and w^ake up in glory." 
And so death is to pass into life eternal in the 
land elysian. It is to rest sweetly forever when 
the weary work is over. The writer once made 
the journey from Bethlehem to Jerusalem by 
night. When on the hills north of Bethlehem, 
far away the lights on Mount Zion shone out 
Avith beauty and delight; and so the way seemed 
joyous, for the gates of the Holy City were wide 
open, and Zion seemed a city of light. Thus is 
our pilgrimage ever enlightened as we hasten to 
our Zion in the skies. 

"O glory shining far 

From the never-setting sun! 
O trembling morning star ! 
Our journey's almost done 
To the new Jerusalem, 

*'Our hearts are breaking now 
Those mansions fair to see; 
O Lord, thy heavens bow 
And raise us up with thee 
To the new Jerusalem." 



164: Sacreb ^ours tDttl? ^oung (Ll^nsttans. 

LXXY. OUR ENCOURAGEMENT. 

In this Christian race we have ten thousand 
precious encouragements. 

1. It pays well now to walk with Jesus. We 
carry our heaven with us. 

"Jesus all the day long 
Is my joy and my song." 

2. The sympathy, prayers, and fellowship of 

all the good are with the humble follower of 

Jesus. 

"Blest be the tie that binds 
Our hearts in Christian love; 
The fellowship of kindred minds 
Is like to that above." 

3. We have the constant friendship and love 
of the Father. " Fear not, little flock ; for it is 
your Father's good pleasure to give you the 
kingdom." . 

" Thy calmness bends serene above, my restlessness to still ; 
Around me flows thy quickening life, to nerve my falter- 
ing will ; 
Thy presence fills my solitude ; 
Thy providence turns all to good." 

4. We are not our own, but the purchased 
bride of Jesus, who has gone up to reign at the 
right hand of the Father, and to plead for us as 
a sympathizing high priest. 



0ur (Encouragement. 165 

"Cling to the Crucified! 

His is a heart of love, 

Full as the hearts above; 
" Its depths of sympathy 

Are all awake for thee; 

His countenance is light, 

Even to the darkest night. 

That love shall never change, 

That light shall ne'er grow dim; 

Charge then thy faithless heart 

To find its all in him. 

Cling to the Crucified ! " 

5. AVe have the Holy Spirit as our guide and 
comforter. '• I will pray the Father, and he shall 
give you another Comforter, that he may abide 
with you forever. ... I will not leave you com- 
fortless." 

"Spirit of holiness, look down, 
Our fainting hearts to cheer ; 
And when we humble at thy frown, 
Oh, bring thy comforts near." 

6. We have a certain destiny of perfect bliss 
before us. There is heaven at the end of the 
race. "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will 
give thee a crown of life." 

"The march will soon be over; 
AVe're going home at last." 

Sometimes we grow weary; rest is just ahead. 
Sometimes our hearts are homesick, for we are 
lonesome, and our loved ones have gone from us 



166 Sacxcb ?}onvs wxtl) IJoung (£l)risttans. 

and left us to walk the pilgrim way alone. We 
come to Bethany in our life pilgrimage from the 
wilderness on our w^ay to the Holy City, and 
though it is almost at the summit of Olivet, over- 
looking Mount Zion, "our brother is dead." A 
few years ago the writer sat on " the stone of rest," 
just east of Bethany on the way toward Jericho, 
from which he had come. Musing there in sight 
of Bethany, he felt himself close by the spot where 
Martha and Mary met their blessed Lord when 
Lazarus, their brother, was dead. He will never 
forget that afternoon. It took no vivid fancy to 
behold Martha coming out of the village, just on 
the hill above, to the company which waited there 
on the outskirts of the town, and falling down at 
Jesus' feet, exclaiming, " Lord, if thou hadst been 
here, my brother had not died." Then, not many 
moments after, Mary came down the hill, followed 
by a company of the Jews. The veil of mourn- 
ing hung heavy on her face, and her broken heart 
and bowed form pressed the earth at Jesus' feet, 
as she too took up the words, " Lord, if thou hadst 
been here, my brother had not died." " Thou hast 
the power, and thou lovedst him. He was so 
fair, and though so strong and mighty, he was 
so gentle. But he has been dead four days; you 
have come four days too late." 



Our Encouragement. 167 

With that scene before me, I drew my Bible 
from my side and read from the eleventh chapter 
of John: "Thy brother shall rise again. . . . lam 
the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in 
me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and 
whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never 
die." Then my heart remembered its sadness. 
Thought sat again beside a loved brother and a 
darling child that six thousand miles away lay in 
the grave. My own health was not robust. INIy 
heart had sunk down. But then as the scene of 
Christ, wdth the two sisters' sorrow, rose before the 
enraptured vision, and fancy saw him and them 
and the company pass to the other edge of the 
town to the cave where Lazarus was buried, and 
Jesus bade him come forth from the dead, and sent 
him home, with his sisters clinging to his arms, 
to live again happily as before, — my heart caught 
a new view of Christ as the source of all comfort 
and hope. Our joy is in the life to come. Do we 
walk in darkness now and then? We have Jesus, 
life, resurrection from the dead, home, heaven. 

"No night shall be iu heaven! no gathering gloom 
Shall o'er that glorious landscape ever come; 
No tears shall fall in sadness o'er those flowers 
That breathe their fragrance through celestial bowers. 



168 Sacreb ^ours xvxtl} ^oung (EJ^ristians. 

" No night shall be in heaven ! forbid to sleep, 
These eyes no more their mournful vigils keep; 
Their fountains dried, their tears all wiped away. 
They gaze undazzled on eternal day. 

"No night shall be in heaven! no sorrow reign; 
No secret anguish, no corporeal pain. 
No shivering limbs, no burning fever there; 
No soul's eclipse, no winter of despair. 

"No night shall be in heaven! but endless noon; 
No fast-declining sun, no waning moon; 
But there the Lamb shall yield perpetual light 
'Mid pastures green and waters ever bright. 

"No night shall be in heaven! no darkened room, 
No bed of death, nor silence of the tomb; 
But breezes ever fresh with love and truth. 
Shall brace the frame with an immortal youth. 

"No night shall be in heaven! Oh, had I faith 
To rest in what the faithful Witness saith, 
That faith should make these hideous phantoms flee, 
And leave no night henceforth on earth to me." 



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